The Roman Baths in Bath is a museum and historical complex that includes a sacred spring, a Roman temple, a baths building and a museum displaying archaeological finds. The baths themselves are below ground level, with the houses above them were built in the 19th century.
Water, which is in limestone aquifers at a depth of 2700 to 4300 metres, is heated by geothermal energy to temperatures between 64 and 96 degrees Celsius. Under pressure, the hot water is forced to the surface through cracks and fractures in the limestone, forming hot mineral springs.
Even the ancient Celts honoured these springs as sacred, associating them with the name of the of the goddess Sulis. The Romans, who identified Sulis with Minerva, named the settlement Aquae Sulis (Aquae Sulis) and built their temple there, and nearby were built Roman thermae, or baths, built on oak piles with a lead roof. In the second century, the baths had pools of hot, warm and cold water. Excavations here found a lot of curse tablets - on these plates asking the goddess to punish their offender. A large proportion of the curses found here are addressed to bath thieves who stole the clothes of bathers.
Throughout the centuries, interest in the healing springs has waned and then flared up again, but Bath had its heyday in the 18th century, when it became fashionable for aristocratic aristocracy became fashionable for travelling to the waters. At the same time, the construction of new galleries and pavilions construction of new galleries and pavilions, the remains of Roman thermae were discovered.
Now in the museum you can see various artefacts from Roman times, mainly offerings to the goddess, which were thrown into a sacred spring. Here gilded bronze head of the goddess Sulis Minerva, which was found during the excavations in 1727. Also in the museum, you can learn about what it looked like the ancient Roman temple on the site and how the thermae were organised.
