UK ~ Bath - Somerset - UNESCO ~

... Wonderful view of the Great Bath, the highlight of the entire bath complex... the house is a well-preserved Roman site for public bathing located in the heart of the gorgeous ancient city of Bath... the city was founded upon natural hot springs with the steaming water playing a key role throughout its history...  1,170,000 litres of steaming spring water reaching 46 °C still fill the bathing site every single day... the Romans believed that this was the mystical work of the Gods... but the water source, which comes from the King’s Spring, fell as rain water around 10,000 BC... it’s quite astonishing that after 2,000 years, these Roman Baths remain one of the top tourist attractions in England... and one of the finest historic sites in Northern Europe... Thanks a lot Agnieszka! (✿◠‿◠)

The Romans founded the thermal spa city of Bath in AD 60-70 and, over the following 300 years, continued to construct a temple and bathing complex. The Roman Baths were named after the Goddess Minerva Sulis, and Bath was known in Latin as Aquae Sulis. The Roman Baths at Bath continued to be used by the Romans until their withdrawal from Britain in the early 5th-century. 

The baths then fell into disrepair and were ultimately lost to flooding and silting over. It wasn’t until the Victorians explored the site in the late 19C and discovered the hidden Roman Baths that they began excavating. The Victorians continued erecting the stunning buildings surrounding the sacred thermal spa, and today all the architecture on street level around the bathing complex dates from the 19th-century. The grand opening of the Baths was in 1897. 

Bath became a UNESCO WHS site in 1987 and is also one of eleven Great Spa Towns of Europe recognised by UNESCO  in 2021.

Stamp: 

Fauna - Cats 

(Issued 09-06-2022)