The Roman Baths

A Review

A visit to Bath will not be complete without a tour in the magnificent Roman Baths.

The remarkably well preserved and famous world heritage site is right in the heart of bath, next to the abbey. After purchasing the entrance tickets, each visitors are presented with a free personal audio guides that gives in depth descriptions as well as some interesting informations on the exhibition. Listening to the children's audio tour where the visitors are guided by a few imaginary persons from the era including a roman official, slave girl, bathhouse workers and priests are also very entertaining.

As the visitors walk from the entrance and descend into the underground museum, it feels as if one is traveling back in time. The exhibition includes many recovered relics, including the corner stone for the great altar that has been built into a church, the well carved pediment with the famous Gorgon's head that is popular with tourists being key chains, magnets and other souvenirs, the discovered head of the Sulius Minerva statue, personal curses and messages scribed on pieces of lead for the temple goddess and marvelous stoneworks with writings still very much legible now after all these years.

Not much of the original temple of Sulis Minerva remains can be seen. The grandeur of what it once was can now only be seen through the imaginations of the visitors. On the other hand, the baths are very well preserved. The open air Great Bath and the Circular Bath, now serving as a wishing well are still filled with water. The classical architectures around the pool are also fitted with lightings and humidity similar to the original settings.

One of the highlight of this tour is the hot spring itself which is the genesis of this very site, without which none of the once impressive temple buildings and intricate bath complexs would exist. It is not hard to understand why the Romans and native Celts, or even those before them from the Bronze Age saw the spring as a spirtual and sacred site when looking at the steaming waters on a cold winter morning. The bubling waters are even used in the nearby Thermae Bath Spa now, truly a larvish gift from Above for our enjoyment.

The Roman Baths is truly a place that must be visited as it is both an enriching experience marvelling at the excellent workmanship from the past and a rejuvinating spiritual journey walking through the very stone steps that the ancient walked and breathing in the very vapours from the sacred spring.

~ Written on 22 Jan 2008 (Tues) the visit was on Sunday

The official link
http://www.romanbaths.co.uk/