Each year, more than a million people visit the Roman baths in Bath. There is nothing strange about it: it is one of the most curious sights in the city.

The emergence of the Roman baths, the city of Bata, and even the origin of its name is due to the fact that it has a hot thermal spring from the ground. The first baths here were built by the Celts. They noticed the healing properties of the spring and considered it sacred, so they built a sanctuary dedicated to one of the local deities. The Romans who came to Britain also thought the place was sacred and associated it with the goddess Athena. It was here that they built the baths. Construction began around 60 BC and lasted about 300 years.

The original Roman building was destroyed over time, but new baths were added all the time around the same spring that spurted from the ground. But the heyday of Bath was in the 18th and 19th centuries, linked to the fashion for water therapy. The baths became the focal point of the social life of the town, so a new building was erected above the spring, and the Grand Pump Room for drinking water was built.
The Roman Baths in Bath are on the National Heritage List of the United Kingdom.

The building now has parts over two thousand years old, varying in age from Roman and older. The above-ground structures and the present main building were erected in the late 18th century by architect John Wood. The surviving Roman parts are recessed below street level and can be viewed as well. Originally there were all three Roman compulsory parts: the caldarium (hot baths), the terpidarium (warm baths) and the frigidarium (cold baths), as well as several halls for recreation. Some of the rooms have been preserved.

The complex is divided into four parts, almost all of which were originally created by the Romans: there is a holy spring, the baths themselves and a museum. The Roman holy spring is a hot thermal spring that springs from the ground and fills the baths with water. The Romans only threw offerings to the goddess Athena into the spring – 12 thousand different coins were found during excavations. There used to be a sanctuary too, it was in the courtyard, but only the remains of its former splendor, which are exhibited in the museum, have survived.

The main pool is very beautiful and was built over the Roman one. It is a rectangular reservoir of water, surrounded by columns and decorative elements. There are parts from different eras, from modern to ancient. The Roman dressing rooms and steam rooms have been preserved, and archaeological finds are now on display in them. The museum also contains items found during the excavation and restoration of the baths.
Many scattered rarities of various ages have survived in the baths: Roman mosaics, medieval statues, Renaissance sculptures, etc.

All structures are still filled with hot spring water, but you cannot drink water or bathe in it here. If you want to drink safe thermal water, you can in the nearby Grand Pump Room, and swim in the waters of the same spring, but safely held – in the neighboring spa complex Thermae Bath Spa.
Under no circumstances should you try to climb into the water or drink it, or better yet, don’t touch the water with your hands at all. It flows into the tanks through lead pipes laid by the Romans, and the intake is made directly from the ground. Therefore, the water is radioactive and contains a lot of bacteria. It was technically impossible to change it without completely dismantling the building.

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Britain has preserved many ancient monuments, of which Hadrian’s Wall is considered the most ancient. It is also called the Roman Wall and the Picts’ Wall. This structure was a defensive structure in Roman Britain and was built in 122 AD. The rampart is named after the then reigning Emperor Hadrian. It is in northern England by the Bay of Solway Firth in the Irish Sea to the North Sea, by the River Tyne, very close to the Scottish border. This is where the Roman Empire then ended and the border was separated from the tribes of the Britons and Picts.

Hadrian’s rampart looks like a wall of stones. It had forts five miles apart. Between them towers were built. In some places ditches were dug and embankments made. The wall at that time was equipped not only with fortifications, but also with customs posts. Only some part of the rampart has survived to our time; it stretches for 117 km. The UNESCO list of ancient Roman structures was added and it is considered one of the oldest sites in Britain. It is believed that the stone wall is the border between England and Scotland, but it is not true.

The Roman Empire conquered many countries and in each conquered territory there were dissatisfied with the new order. The wall was intended to protect the Romans from unfriendly tribes. But at this time, it is not known whether the construction was really useful. There is another version of the purpose of the wall. Every day traders passed through it, so checkpoints were set up to keep track of immigrants and smugglers. The wall was covered with white plaster, so it was visible even from far away. The death of Emperor Hadrian had a great impact on further development, the construction was literally abandoned. The new emperor erected his own structure, calling it “Antoninus wall”, it reaches 40 kilometers in length, and had forts much larger than Hadrian’s wall.

Later, the wall decided to convert it into a rampart. It was made of turf, complete with sharpened stakes. Already in the early 5th century the Roman influence ended and the British were returning to a quiet life. Stones from the rampart were sometimes taken for other new constructions. Nowadays the remains of the wall are treated with a special compound to keep the stones in good condition. But time has done its work and most of the wall has not survived. Many of the stones from the wall went on the roads in the 18th century. John Clayton tried to protect the remains of the wall, he even purchased several sections of the structure to keep them from being dismantled by farmers. He took possession of almost the entire structure and even excavated it. Clayton invested all of his earnings in rebuilding the wall. Workers he hired partially rebuilt the rampart. After John Clayton’s death, his estate passed into the hands of his family, but they lost the land in a casino. The National Trust soon bought it and decided to restore it and take care of what was left of the wall.

Not far from Hadrian’s Wall lies an area on which to settle, and a hotel can be found nearby for temporary tourists. For those who like simple things, there are the usual village houses, and for those who like convenience, hotels will do. Tourists and travelers can not only approach the berm, but even climb it, although it is not advisable to do so.

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