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Bath
Bath Abbey
Roman Baths
Assembly Rooms
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Pump Room
​Royal Crescent
Victoria Art Gallery
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CRUISING TO ENGLAND:



ROMAN
BATHS
Roman Baths, Bath England
  The Roman Baths is Bath's most important attraction. A million people visit this site each year.

According to legend, the mythical King Bladud used magic to create the hot spring at Bath in around 863 B.C. An alternative but more complicated explanation is that the spring is a product of natural forces. Rainfall on the nearby Mendip Hills seeps down into the limestone that covers the area. There it becomes heated under pressure to 156 to 205 degrees Fahrenheit (69 to 96 degrees centigrade). The water then rises to the surface through fissures and faults in the limestone. The whole process takes thousands of years.

The ancient Celts were probably the first to worship at this inexplicable natural wonder. They attributed it to their goddess Sulis. When the Romans arrived in the 1st century, they decided that Sulis was actually their goddess Minerva. Accordingly, in about 69 AD they built a grand temple by the spring dedicated to Sulis Minerva.
Over the next 300 years, the Romans also built a large bath house around the spring where the residents of the town of Aquae Sulis could come to socialize and take the waters. After the Romans left Britain, the baths fell into decline and according to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicles, the Roman baths were destroyed in the 6th century.
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In the 18th century, the baths had a rebirth. People believed that the spring water had curative powers. However, the water's therapeutic powers were unleashed not so much by swimming in it but by drinking it. Therefore, a building with a fountain (the Pump Room) was erected next to the spring so that the rich and fashionable could come to drink the water. During the construction of a replacement building in the 1790s, part of the long-forgotten Roman temple was rediscovered.
It was not until the late 19th century that serious excavation of the ancient site began. The excavations now extend under the surrounding streets and squares.
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Roman Baths, Bath England
Above: The Romans used to meet and socialize at the Baths.
Below: The Georgians built the Pump Room overlooking the thermal spring.
Picture Thermal spring and The Pump Room, Bath England
19th century statue, Roman Baths, Bath England
Above: The Victorians placed 19th century Roman-themed statues overlooking the Great Bath.
For more about cruising to England:

Click here for our index of England travel features
Click here for a walk through Whitehall and Westminster
Click here for our feature on Kensington Palace
Click here for our article on Maritime Greenwich
Click here for our page on the City of London
Click here for our article on the Tower of London
Click here for our article on the Changing of the Guard
Click here for our article on the Banqueting House
Click here for our article on Windsor Castle
Click here for our article on Leeds Castle
Click here for our article on the New Forest
Click here for our article on visiting Exbury Gardens
Click her for our article on The Beatles' Liverpool
​Click here for our article on The Beatles' London
​Click here for our article on Cambridge University
Click here for our article on Oxford University
Click here for our article on visiting Winchester
Cruise destination guide - England - Bath - Roman Baths - page one
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