Bath

Bath is a city just west of London.  It is a very popular city for tourists because of the well known Roman Baths.  The reason the Roman Baths are so popular is because they are heated by an underground spring that is 115 degrees Fahrenheit which, as you have probably guessed, makes the water very warm.  This was also important because heated water didn't come in until the late 18th century.

Another reason for the bath's popularity is that the water was said to have healing powers.  When we visited the Roman Baths they had a fountain set up where you could drink the water and"get healed".  The water was warm, tasted like metal, and I don't feel any different so I wouldn't drink it again.

Oddly enough the Romans weren't the first people to find the baths.  The first shrine was built by the Celts and was dedicated to the goddess Sulis whom the Romans associated with their goddess Minerva.  In 836 BC the British King Bladud discovered the springs and built the first baths.  After that the Romans invaded and they believed that some of their gods, such as Minerva, had given them the hot baths and it's healing powers.  The photos below of the baths represent the roman time period since they were the last ones to use the baths.

After the Romans left to go to war, as I talked about in my Hadrian's Wall post, the baths were forgotten about and covered up by silt until they were rediscovered in the late 18th century.

This is a picture of the Roman Baths.

This is a picture of my sisters and I touching the water which I guess we weren't supposed to do because the girl in the black pants and blue shirt on the far right in the picture is coming over to tell us that they don't "recommend" we touch the water.  Keep in mind she never really told us not to.  ;)