Roman Baths

Almost 2000 years ago, the Romans came to Bath. When they arrived, they found a tremendous hot spring. Not knowing much about geology, they believed that the spot was holy -- a gift from the gods. The local people also venerated this spot as holy to their god Sulis, the healer. Sulis seemed eqivalent to the Roman god Minerva, so the Romans decided to combine the two. Over the spring, they erected a temple to Sulis Minerva. The spring remained sacred, but the waters were channeled off into baths. The sick or injured would come to soak in the holy waters and pray that they would be healed.

After a few hundred years, the Roman baths fell out of fashion, and the roof caved in. The museum didn't tell very much about what happened next, but we know that people would come to "take the waters" for the next 1500 years. The Roman baths were forgotten until water from the springs began leaking into the homes surrounding the baths. Excavation was begun, and the community discovered the detailed roman construction we can see today.

The baths have been reconstructed in places and are completely gorgeous. As you walk through the ruins, you get a real sense of the history ancient and more recent. We arrived just as darkness was falling, and bright torches were lit all the way around the main pool. A gentle and mysterious mist rises up from the the surface. There is something holy about the place even many years after the Romans have been gone.