Last week I showed you some photos of the city of Bath and I mentioned that the town also had the ruins of some famous Roman baths and a temple. There are four main aspects of the tour: the Sacred Spring, the Roman temple, the Roman bath house, and a museum with archaeological findings. I got to practice my schoolgirl Latin as well, which always tickles me. (Anyone else study the Cambridge Latin course aka the adventures of Quintus in school?)
While the modern day baths and spa water in the city still come from the Spring they are sourced through different drilled holes. Any water from the ancient baths is not safe for bathing. In fact, a girl in the 70s contracted meningitis from swimming in the refurbished ancient baths and they were closed permanently to public swimming.
What’s so special about the location is that this is the best preserved example of Roman baths and temples in all of Northern Europe. They were constructed in 70 AD around a natural spring.
If you are visiting the Roman Baths I recommend picking up the free audio guide.
The terrace has statues of Emperors of Rome and Governors of Roman Britain.
The Great Bath.
Mask of Minerva.
Floor mosaic.
The floor stones of the hot bath.
The orange colouring is caused by iron in the water.
Tickets are £13.50 and you can find the website here.
