The city’s most popular spot: the Roman Baths
The Roman Baths were built around 70 AD when the Romans discovered a hotspring that brought hot water onto the surface. They built a vast complex of different rooms, baths and saunas using a system called a hypocaust to heat all the rooms. A hypocaust is basically a layer under the floor where the hot air could flow around to, heating up the floor and in the end heating up the rooms. A very complex system and it’s amazing how back in those times people already thought of things like that.
^ a hypocaust seen without the ‘floor’ layer over it. The air would flow through the little stacks of stones
The Romans also made a genius system to let the water flow from the spring to & through the different baths, using drains and metal pipes to lead the water. I was so amazed by the fact that there is still hot water flowing from the spring all the way to the main bath (the big one seen in the top photos) and then back into the river. The system that the Romans built 2.000 years ago is still properly functioning! The Romans called Bath ‘Aquae Sulis’ which is obviously named after the hotspring (Aqua) and also after the god Sulis Minerva who they believed in and who was the Keltic/local god of water. Double water in the city!
^ Statue/portrait that was believed to be Sulis Minerva. This portrait was part of the top front frame of the temple of Aquae Sulis. And yes, Sulis Minerva - a female god - has a beard & moustache!
As I said in my previous post, Bath was also a popular destination for the rich Gregorians, the people that lived around the 1700s with posh wigs and fancy clothing. The Baths had been rubbled by ruins around the Middle Ages, but the Gregorians re-discovered the baths, and started to actually use it again. They modified the baths in terms of adding new things to it. This is still visible nowadays, as the first 1.5m up from the floor are Roman, and everything higher than 1.5m is Gregorian. So, on the top photos you can see the balcony/terrace as the second floor, this has been build by the Gregorians while the base floor has been made by the Romans (and is also still intact!) The Abbey that you can see in the background has also been build by the Gregorians.
^ Statues of Julius Caesar and another Roman emperor at the balcony of the Baths, in front of the Bath Abbey
The Gregorians build more additions to this fantastic city which I will talk about in my next post!
