Both of these problems have been tackled in the course of the last few years. When the ancient Roman baths and the Hotel de Cluny were a characteristically nineteenth-century error of taste was committed when the original Roman walls were completely covered over and hidden under plaster. Later, keepers of the museum knew that the walls were there, but not until 1936 were officials able to start a systematic uncovering of them.
Although not yet open to the public, this rehabilitation of ancient masonry is now almost complete. The great tepidarium, where Romans took their tepid baths, has been cleaned, and instead of containing an assortment of Roman and Gothic exhibits, now contains only the Roman sarcophagi and a few pieces of the Romanesque period. Everything of the thirteenth or fourteenth centuries has been placed elsewhere, so that the Gallo-Roman atmosphere is undisturbed.
The caldarium—where they took the very hot baths—is still in ruins in the garden, and will not be touched. But the thermal room leading to the tepidarium has been greatly improved. All the plaster has been removed, so that the Roman walls can be seen, and a lower staircase has been built to unite the two rooms, which are at different levels. On either side of these steps are revealed, for the first time, the beginnings of the ancient cellars.
A similar uncovering of the original Roman walls has been accomplished in the "Salle Neuf" or the "Salle des Bois" They have been supported and merged excellently into the modern walls, where necessary, so as to, give a harmonious effect.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.