The Roman Baths...

No visit to Bath is complete without a visit to the Roman Baths, which were not discovered until the late 19th century. I was glad that Ashlynn joined us after her lunch with Hannah.

The original temple was built in 70AD, but the current building was built in 1897. The baths themselves are below the current level of the street so you enter surrounded by Victorian statues of Roman Emperors while looking down on the Great Bath, which is 5.25 feet (1.6 meters) deep.

Needless to say, with the Bath Abbey in the background, I couldn’t resist taking a lot of photos.

When Sally visited as a child, she could dangle her legs into the hot water, but that is no longer allowed.

In addition to a fascinating museum, we wandered through the remains of the Roman Bath Complex, including the saunas...

...and plunge pools. In the East Baths, the women’s section, there were projections displayed to show us what the normal activities would have been.

The Sacred Spring has been fed for thousands of years by over one million liters of hot water that rises daily from a geological fault. In the past, this natural phenomenon was beyond human comprehension and was believed to be the work of Gods. This water than feeds into the Great Bath and surrounding complex through a series of channels; the overflow eventually empties into the River Avon.

After a long chat with one of the docents, we realized it was nearing sunset, so we went back to see the Great Bath lit for the evening.

Our tour ended with a taste of the famous spa water, which contains 43 minerals, smells like sulfur and tastes disgusting.