Friday, October 14, 2016

United Kingdom trip (Part 3)- City of Bath

City of Bath- UNESCO World heritage site

“Do you want know about Roman history in England?” Asked my friend. “Yes, I do” was my answer. So, we included City of Bath in our itinerary. After visiting Salisbury we headed toward City of Bath. Again we faced problem with parking the car. We entered Bath Cricket Club. We saw plenty of parking. We were so overjoyed that we didn’t notice, that , that was a private parking space. That means only the club members can park cars there. 

Bath cricket club ground


Getting parking outside was a tough. On the top of that, it was a Saturday, people went out like us. Our friend directly went to the club house , and asked for parking permission. They allowed us, and we went to visit the ancient Roman Bath in the heart of the city. The city was built around the ruin of the Roman Bath, and named after it. 

Bath Abbey


When we reached there it was around five o’clock in the evening. But due to long day in summer it felt like in the middle of the day with bright sunshine. So, there was no need to worry about going back home. Moreover, it was Saturday, another lazy day was in hand. 


We started walking on the bridge over  the  Bath River with beautiful similar structured buildings on both sides. We could see the cricket tournament was going on at Bath cricket club. Anyway, we reached the center of the Bath City, in front the Bath Abbey. What a view!! What a magnificent structure! With two enormous tall spire on the both sides and numerous small spires, the building was standing tall with its full glory, showing the modern world, that how could they think about architecture and art together. How could they create such building with so many minute details from top to bottom?  The stained glass windows at the front of the hall added extra glory to the building. 

The structure of Bath might be like this


Then we entered the Historic site of 4th Century A.D. Roman Bath, which was a well preserved site of Roman Public bathing. The actual Roman bath was exactly one level below the modern City of Bath. It was one of gem of the Roman civilization in Britain. The bath system was a detailed grand activity to the Romans. So, after invading , and capturing southwest part of Britain they created the bath , because of hot spring. To them bath was worship. They used different kind of oil for their bath. The bath was dedicated to Auqa Salis who was connected to Minarva, Roman goddess of wisdom.

The main pool

 
First we entered at the main hot spring of the Roman Bath. It was huge pool compared to that era, with many of the statues of god and goddess surround the pool. There were several pools , they were used for different reason. The Romans believed in different healing properties of different bath. Anyway, we visited seven or eight pools inside the site. In one pool I saw stack of ancient bricks. Out of curiosity I read the board beside it,and found out that brick stacks were made to create a hollow space in the bottom the pool, where charcoal were burned to heat up the pool. Like this many history were scattered inside the site. We saw even the bust the goddess Minarva made at that time. We didn’t have much time in our hand to see each and every site. Though, I visited , but I couldn’t remember all of the pools’ purpose. But in Roman culture those baths were used as a part of socialization, what I think. May be I’m wrong, after all, I’m not a Historian. I love to read history. After coming home I tried to dig out history about the Roman Bath. It is huge, it will take time to read and understand about it. Still I read little bit in Internet. 
But one questions always comes into mind, when Romans left England, what happened to the Bath? How it went one story below the modern city? How it went underground? How did it perish? Due to any war? I don’t know. If anyone know about it , please tell me. I just want to know the history .Was it demolished or it just ruined with time due to lack of care? What happened to it? How it lost its ancient glory. 

The few of remains which were found during excavation


I couldn’t find out my answer. But it was time to back. So we came out from the Bath complex to see the modern city. We roamed by the side of Bath River, then we headed toward Reading. 
After reaching Reading we saw the 900 years old ruin of the Abbey of Henry I. As it would be open in 2018, we couldn’t see it properly standing in the month of July of 2016. 

Beth river
City of Bath



It was time for dinner. We had pizza and went back home at 12:00 at night. Next day’s schedule was Oxford and Bibury village.  

28 comments:

Mac n' Janet said...

Another beautiful English city, always enjoy seeing pictures of it.

Emma Springfield said...

Architecture is a wonderful example of art. I love the old buildings that have character and beauty. Few buildings built today have the same glamor. Newer buildings are stark and cold.

JoJo said...

I had no idea that the Roman bath was still there and now I'm curious why it was below the current city!

Kay G. said...

I want to visit Bath too!

Karen Lakis said...

This looks like a beautiful and interesting place to visit!

Gosia said...

It is a great place to visit. I was there 2 years ago

Breathtaking said...

Hello!:) Thank you for your visit, and for sharing your visit to Bath. At the time they invaded Britain, the Romans were far ahead of the countries they conquered, in structural engineering and architecture, and left behind all kinds of proof of their superior skills. I have never been to Bath, and have enjoyed your descriptive narrative and photos. I have been to Italy however, and seen their magnificent buildings, and system of aqueducts and Roman baths. The buildings that are built today are not as beautiful, are they!! Enjoy your weekend.

Patsy said...

Thanks for commenting on my blog.
Enjoyed reading your post on Bath,

krishna said...

Thank you..

krishna said...

I totally second you.. old buildings always have some life..

krishna said...

I also wants a satisfactory answer..:)

krishna said...

yes.. nice place to visit..

krishna said...

yes.. you are correct..

krishna said...

yes.. that was a great place to visit..

krishna said...

Thank you for your nice comment.. you are correct ancient Romans were way ahead in this field..

Molly said...

I really enjoyed reading your blog post on Bath. The pictures are stunning. I've never been there but one day ... you never know. Thank you so much for your comment on my blog too.

krishna said...

Thanks a lot Molly..

Marie Smith said...

Bath has so much history it is a feast for the eyes and mind. I enjoyed the visit!

Beauty Unearthly said...

Lovely post dear!Have a great weekend! xx

Marjie said...

I'm so glad you stopped by my blog, so I had the chance to meet you! All of your last few posts have had beautiful pictures. Bath is lovely; the water in the bath you showed maybe has a high mineral content causing the yellow-green water color?

And Happy 8th birthday to your son; Legoland was a wonderful birthday surprise. Enjoy his young years; they go by so fast.

Marjie

Sussi said...

Interesting and beautiful place!

Diane said...

My husband and both come from Bath but we never knew each other in those days. We met in Johannesburg, South Africa many years later!!!
Great post Diane

LianaLaurie said...

Hello dear,
fantastic post!
I'm following back (#98 "Aishe Raschid").
Hugs,
LIANA LAURIE

BABALUCCIA said...

What a great post ..great place and photo too
kisses for you

Linda said...

Magnificent photos, I looked at Parts 1, 2 and 3! Such a beautiful place! Thank you so much for sharing. :)

Pixel Peeper said...

The history of this place is just awesome!

Jeanie said...

OK -- I'm totally hooked on your blog! I'm a new follower and look forward to more wonderful posts from wherever you land!

krishna said...

Thanks a lot Jeanie.. you love my blog..

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