Bath, UK is two cities in one. The first is classically attractive, the second, positively ravishing.
The city owes its name to its most famous attraction: the awe-inspiring Roman bath. During their occupation of Britannia in the first century, the Romans stumbled upon an astonishing hot spring here, believed by locals to be a gift from the goddess Sulis. The Romans named the place Aquae Sulis, “the Waters of Sulis,” and built an opulent spa and temple complex around the water, replete with grand architecture, intricate mosaics, and elaborate statues.
Because much of the original Roman structures remain, including the main bath, it’s easy to spend several hours here immersed in antiquity.
That’s the first city, and it’s great.
The second city is the new Bath, dating roughly to the 18th century. Largely under the influence of visits by kings George I, II, and III, the former Roman outpost witnessed an explosion of architectural magnificence and breathtaking physical and cultural metamorphoses. The city was reimagined and redesigned. Grand buildings were erected under the direction of the finest architects. The hot springs were used for all manner of healing. Britain’s high society converged on Bath to see and be seen, to sing and to dance, to frolic and to revel and to heal.
Those days are long gone, but the opulence and elegance and cultural depth of the city remain, subdued but pervasive, as a mature Bath lures visitors with pedestrian malls and fine food and seductive charm.
You really don’t want to miss it.
I mean, you really don’t want to miss it.
