England 2005 (continued)

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Bath

Bath is a charming town with little shops, an old cathedral, and ringing church bells. It is not hard to image the men in powdered wigs, the women in big dresses, and the horse-drawn carriages that used to be commonplace here. Believe it or not, this fairytale scenery is not the major reason people come to this town. The main attraction is the Roman Baths.

charming town of Bath

Bath Abbey Cathedral

Back during the period of the Roman Empire, Romans had conquered their way all the way to the British Isles. During their occupation between the first and fifth century AD, the Romans had stumbled across Britain's only natural hot spring which happens to be located under the town of Bath. Mystified by this source of natural hot water, the Romans began practicing all types of rituals such as throwing prayer offering into it. Eventually, they built elaborate channels for directing the flow of the water into a large public bath house temple. People would come here to swim in the many pools. After the fall of Rome, the bath house remained but was forgotten. It was rediscovered in 1878.

Ancient Romans swam in this warm water. I hope it was cleaner.

 

Romans cooled off here.

 

Roman artifacts from the 1st century AD

 

This ancient statue now gazes upon 18th century architecture.

 

Our tour included admission to the Roman Baths. The pools and the surrounding columns and statues still remain. The biggest pool (Great Bath) is full of green, unsafe water. There were many display cases showing the items excavated from this site. I was most amazed at the Roman coins that were found dating back to 54 AD. I guess even people back then were throwing coins into water. continue...

 

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