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The Thermal Building in the Sanctuary of St-Philip at Hierapolis in Frigia (Turkey)Piera CAGGIAInstitute for Archaeological and Monumental Heritage, National Research Council, Lecce - ITALIEType de contribution : communication longueThe research is focused on the transformation processes undergone by the thermal buildings during the period between the late imperial age and the proto-Byzantine, and takes as a starting point the archaeological finds of the Italian Archaeological Mission at Hierapolis in Phrygia.The recent achievements represent an important contribution to the delineation of a clear and exhaustive interpretation of the urban development of the city that followed the ruinous earthquake that shook Hierapolis in the mid-4th century A.D., causing the deep modification to its urban structure.In particular, on the Eastern Hill, that was previously occupied only with the tombs of the Roman age necropolis, was built the monumental complex dedicated to the memory of Philip the Apostle, who, according to the tradition, had been buried there after his martyrdom.The thermal structures of the city were also significantly transformed, with a complete change in their architectural typology and functions ; new, but smaller and less imposing bath buildings were raised as well, such as the one near the Northern Agora. Those structures display a typical proto-Byzantine plan organisation, with rooms aligned on a central axis ending up in the caldarium.The last researches held by the Italian Archaeological Mission in the Eastern Hill brought to light new important elements for the comprehension of the role of the thermal buildings within the Christian city.It has been possible to reconstruct the processional way linking the city centre to the Saint Philip Martyrion, an octagonal-shaped building raised on the grave of the Apostle. Beyond a new gate, opened in the Byzantine city-walls, a bridge, now collapsed, allowed to pass over a deep valley reaching the hill; the bridge leaded to a large stairway built with limestone slabs on the flank of the hill, long more than 70 metres, reaching the entrance of the Martyrion.Within the processional way, another smaller octagonal building, placed at the very starting-point of the stairway, shows interesting features. The structures, that are already under excavation, have been interpreted as a thermal building because many rooms with different functions have been individuated: the large apodyterium at the entrance, the tepidarium and the caldarium linked with the furnace and what seems to be a small latrine. The thermal structure, organized into the octagonal plan, appears considerably different from the contemporaneous Byzantine thermal buildings, disposed along a longitudinal axis. The inner plan, quite elaborated, was organized with various rooms different by dimension and characterized by geometrically articulated perimeters, with circular apses and small marble-covered basins, probably intended for individual use. The building was presumably covered with a pitched roof, that hid the underlying vaults and the small domes.The octagonal plan, as well as in the baptisteries, has a clear connection to the practises of lustratio, with a preparatory role for the ceremonies culminating with the visit to the Grave of Saint Philip the Apostle. The religious, and not only hygienic, function of this balneum is also made clear by the finding in the drainage channel of eulogiae and small glass phials for oils: the worshippers could in fact clean up and purify themselves before moving up to the Martyrion. It is important to note that the peculiar planimetrical organisation of the thermal building in Hierapolis shows a radical transformation in the design of the bath and of the thermal activities, compared to the imperial age thermal structures. The building is no longer designed for the gymnastics, but to individual hygienic practices, along with the ritual ones, in isolated and hidden spaces: a brand new idea of baths that links this structure to the typologies of the later Arab and Turkish hammam.