Benetutti, Aquae Lesitanae Spa

The area is located at the foot of the extreme strip of the Gocean plateau, near the confluence of the Mannu River into the Tirso River.
The Greek geographer Tolomeo, in the context of the cities in the interior of Sardinia ('poleis mesogeioi'), mentioned the 'Hydata Lesitanà', which can now be identified with the thermal station excavated near Benetutti, an identification that seems to be universally accepted and reaffirmed last by Raimondo Zucca.
Still according to the geographer Ptolemy, it is plausible that the 'Aquae Lesitanae' were related to the center of Lesa, about whose political status there is no certainty and which, only doubtfully, can it be framed in the statute of the 'civitates stipendiariae'. The spa, near the town of Lesa, had to be connected to the road network through the road “ab Ulbia Caralis”.
The complex can be dated to the imperial age thanks to the study of ceramic remains, especially fragments of African sealata attributable to the 2nd-3rd century AD. However, the existence of an earlier plant cannot be ruled out. The modest remains unearthed are traced back to a circular compartment, with access to E, equipped with a circular pool with steps (diameter 3.9 m; depth 1.95 m). The work is cement, but the tub and walls are composed of light gray vulcanite blocks; fragmentary slabs of white marble are perhaps what remains of the wall covering.
The room can be easily interpreted as the pool intended for bathing in thermal water at high temperatures, and not as a “natatio”, an environment that generally has a larger size. Convincing typological comparisons also come from the “Aquae Ypsitane” near Codrongianos.
A chapel dedicated to Asclepius must have been located near the thermal center, as evidenced by the discovery of two stems of gray vulcanite columns and three areas, one of which has a votive dedication, mutilated and lacunous, to the god Aesculapius.
The cult of Asclepius at the “Aquae Calidae” is a frequent circumstance in Sardinia: it was found as early as the second century BC in San Nicolò Gerrei, and in all the other thermal buildings of the imperial period.

History of the excavations
The discovery of the ancient thermal complex dates back to 1971, when work was carried out at the modern thermal baths of San Saturnino. A subsequent excavation campaign, in 1983, highlighted the 'calidarium' with mosaics.

Bibliography
R. Zucca, “Aquae Lesitanae”, in Multas per Gentes. Studies in memory of Enzo Cadoni, Sassari, EDES, 2000, pp. 441-451.

How to get there
Leave the SS 131 at Macomer and take the SS 129 to Nuoro to the junction with the SS 128 bis; from there you take the SP 10 M to the junction with the SP 86. At the crossroads, turn to Benetutti and continue on the Bono/Mores provincial road to the junction that leads to the San Saturnino thermal baths.