Bath , UK — Alone with cameras in a city of golden stones and architectures (Part 1)
17/6/2017
The Roman Baths is one of the most well preserved Roman heritage in the world, its history and culture heritage attracts millions of visitors every year.
Hundreds of years ago a shrine was built at the hot spring by the Celts to worship the goddess Sulis. The construction of the Roman Baths began from the 60–70AD and carried on throughout the course of 3 centuries.
Bath has been inscribed into the UNESCO list of World Heritage site due to the great amount of historical heritage present in the city. Some of which can be dated back to the time of Roman invasion of England. From the Roman Architectures, the well preserved 18th century Georgian buildings, it’s not difficult to observe that the spa town has been known for its elegant architecture and high culture.
The architectures reflected the social setting of 18th century. The Bath Assembly Room, for instance was a social gathering place for high class people. Jane Austen’s novels “Persuasion” and “Northanger Abbey” which set in Bath, has featured the Assembly Rooms.
Around half past eight (being the typical tourist I am) , I was on a coach towards Bath. It was unusually hot for the UK. 30 degree Celsius during daytime, it’s hot even for a Hong Konger like me.
Soon after arriving the Roman Baths I already worked up a sweat. The first thing I noticed was how crowded and noisy the area was, it was almost like Hong Kong. Apparently millions of people visit this place every year, and it was still impressively well maintained.
The Bath Abbey, next to the Roman Bath is a Gothic styled church with an unusually large perpendicular styled glass window in the west front. Out of all the churches I have seen during my stay in the UK, I don’t think I have seen a church with bigger window.
As we were queuing outside, I overheard the security guard talking to my teacher about how his grandfather had participated in the building of the old Hong Kong airport, small world.
The Roman Bath is a very old structure that was built to worship the goddess Sulis, from the time the Romans invaded England. A bust of Sulis can be seen in display inside the Roman Baths.
The interior of the Bath, there is a rectangular shaped pool, with dirty green water with questionable brown substances floating on it. You definitely won’t want to touch it. According to the staff there the greenness of the water caused by the overgrown of algae living in the nutritious hot spring water.
The pool was surrounded by ancient pillars and stone tiles that had been there since the day it was built. I could even see the authentic lead pipe that used to be underneath the stone tiles, now emerged because of the wear throughout the years.
Walking inside the Bath, it felt like the scene was coming to life in front of me, where Romans were walking, bathing, talking to each others all around us again. Knowing that I was standing on the stone tiles that some Roman stood hundreds of years ago, was a powerful sensation to me (or it’s possible that I have extra vivid imaginations)
On top of the pool of the nutritious green water, there was a balcony supported by the pillars which were built much later in the 17th century. Statues perching on the terrace of the structure, silently judging tourists taking selfies underneath. In a distance was the Bath Abbey.
Artifacts of ancient times: coins, tablets, statues and the remains of the original architecture were shown in the museum house.
The museum houses artifacts from the Roman period including objects, which were thrown into the Sacred Spring, presumably as offerings to the goddess. These include more than 12,000 Roman currency coins which is the largest collective votive deposit known from Britain.
Source: Wikipedia
The scent of the water is even stronger inside the museum house (suppose it’s the smell of sulfur?). Everyday, gallons and gallons of hot spring water still flows out here. Since the Roman Bath is no longer save for bathing , a new spa — Thermae Bath Spa was built nearby, using the same underground spring, like the Romans from hundreds of years ago.
To be continued… (Next entry)
