The city of Bath is England’s second most popular visitor destination after London.
The most fascinating and important attraction in the city of Bath are the Roman baths, ancient
ruins from 2000 years ago.
The center of Bath was built on top of the original Roman baths on the site of a natural
hot spring, an ancient geological feature that has been bubbling for millennia.
A comprehensive museum has been built on the site incorporating many of the original Roman
structures along with thousands of artifacts in a fascinating display that reveals how
very civilized they were 2000 years ago.
The museum's main feature is the large bathing pool which originally had a roof but now has
an outdoor terrace that you can walk all the way around.
Be sure to enjoy the different angles looking into the pool across the rooftops of the city
and at the tower of the adjacent Bath Abbey.
The pool with its lead lining and paving around it are original Roman, as are most of the
objects inside the museum.
The statues and columns around the terrace look ancient Roman, but are Victorian additions,
as is the building that surrounds the bath.
The square stone structures around the edge of the pool were originally the foundation
for the big pillars that held up the ceramic roof.
From reconstructions in the museum we can see that it was a covered bathhouse.
The circular bath was a separate pool called the frigidarium, with cold water that they
would plunge into after steaming in their hot bath, then their warm bath.
It's a typical feature of the Roman bath complex but this one is especially large as are all
the other pools in the bath.
The great bath was so large that it functioned as a swimming pool, which was most unusual.
The Romans constructed baths in all their main settlements and went through the effort
of building furnaces to heat the air and water but here the heating was all done naturally
deep in the earth with steaming hundred and 117 degree water that still gushes out of
the ground at the enormous rate of about one half million gallons per day.
This huge volume and natural heating were the reasons for this bath's construction.
Although they controlled all of England this was the only place that had a natural hot
spring so it was extremely valuable to them.
They really loved taking a hot bath.
From the outside bath area you walk inside to the museum exhibits which are presented
in a very educational and clear and modern way.
Many of the original stone pavings and structures are in their original location and numerous
display cases show off the artifacts, which include coins, household implements, jewelry,
and they have some very innovative video displays that go with the artifacts that re-create
life of the ancient Romans.
The most important single treasure is this gilded bronze head of the god Sulis Minerva
who represents a combination of Celtic and Roman gods – the most complete gilded bronze
Roman piece in all of England.
Roman conquerors arrived in the Bath area in 43 A.D. and remained until 410 A.D. and
during that time things were generally peaceful under the Roman rule.
The Romans were clever occupiers who allowed the local people to continue traditional customs
and religions and even adopting some of the local gods.
Roman engineers built an extensive network of roads, fortresses and spas to transport
the goods and support their advanced lifestyle of course the unfortunate Britons were forced
to do most of the physical work but the country benefited in many ways from Roman innovations
and control.
When the Roman Empire collapsed the soldiers picked up their spears and suddenly left Britain
creating a power vacuum that was soon filled by invading Anglo-Saxon Germanic tribes who
were not at all interested in the hot baths.
The thermal springs fell into ruin until the Normans in the 12th century built the Kings
Bath, some of which is visible in the structures we see today.
Archaeological excavations later in the 19th century discovered more of the ancient Roman
pools along with many artifacts that had been very well preserved.
Careful steps were taken to preserve these valuable historic treasures and they're now
beautifully displayed in the museum.
One of the advanced pieces of engineering found here was the heating system called a
hypocaust.
This went underneath the floors, and the brick columns elevated the floors with airspace
that was heated by the natural hot springs, keeping the floors and the building nice and
warm.
There are some guides working at the museum, some of them in costume who can provide some
explanations.
"I'm a slave."
And what do you do as a slave, what's your roll, your job?
"I spend most of my time looking after my mistress, Lady Flavia."
Cooking, cleaning?
"No, no – no cooking, got a whole bunch of other slaves to do that.
Yes there is definitely a slave hierarchy."
So you've got your makeup kit.
"White chalk powder for the face, red ocher used for rouge."
A pleasure, thank you slave.
"You're welcome, nice to meet you."
A thorough visit of the bath and museum takes nearly 2 hours if you want to read all of
the information posted and listen to the audio guide or you could rush through in one hour.
The Roman bath has an excellent website that has many of the videos on display in the museum
along with deep information about Romans in Britain and the museum itself.
Next door built on top of part of the original baths you'll find the elegant Pump Room, first
opened in 1706 and rebuilt in the 1790s.
Taking the waters was the main reason why Bath became such a fashionable resort during
the 18th century.
The Pump Room is still a fashionable gathering place where people come to drink the sulfur-laded
mineral water that is oozed up out of the ground, in hopes it will cure some ailments.
You can sit in the restaurant for tea or a full meal.
Usually there is live music creating a relaxed elegant atmosphere.
The Bath Abbey towers over the city, still the tallest building in the town center.
It's the third church built on this location.
The first was a small stone church built by the Saxons, important in British history because
it is where Edgar the first King of all England was crowned in 973.
Later an Norman Abbey was constructed around the year 1100, and finally replaced by the
church we see today.
The Abbey is sometimes called the Lantern of the West because nearly 60 percent of the
walls are stained-glass.
If you any questions or comments about Bath type it in down below and I'll be happy to
answer and respond.
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