Baños de la Reina Calpe

Baños de la Reina in Calpe, Alicante, is one of the most extraordinary ancient thermal and marine sites on the Mediterranean coast of Spain, where natural bicarbonate springs and seawater combine in a series of rock-cut Roman fish pools and bathing enclosures carved directly into the coastal limestone. Dating from the 1st century BC, this Roman fish farm and bathing complex is a monument of exceptional archaeological significance, and the site's integration of natural springs, tidal seawater channels, and hewn rock architecture is unique on the Iberian coast. The pools, some still filling with seawater through natural channels cut by Roman engineers, can be visited today as part of a protected archaeological site set against the backdrop of the Ifach Peñon and the brilliant turquoise waters of the Costa Blanca. Baños de la Reina in Calpe offers a remarkable encounter with the ancient Roman relationship between thermal waters, the sea, and the Mediterranean coastline.