The originally Roman bath became a health resort in the time of Elizabeth I and received its classicist townscape with monumental buildings in the 18th century. Outstanding buildings include the Abbey Church, the Kurhaus, the Royal Crescent residential complex and the Pulteney Bridge, designed in 1770 based on an Italian model. The world heritage with its over 5000 listed buildings pays tribute to the harmonious connection between Roman relics and the largely intact neoclassical city center.
City of Bath: facts
| Official title: | City of Bath |
| Cultural monument: | originally Roman bath; In the 18th century, a neoclassical city in the sense of Palladio with around 5000 listed buildings such as those of “The King’s Circus” and “The Royal Crescent” as well as Queen Square and Lansdown Crescent |
| Continent: | Europe |
| Country: | United Kingdom, Avon |
| Location: | Bath, southeast of Bristol |
| Appointment: | 1987 |
| Meaning: | harmonious connection between the complex of the Roman baths and the largely intact neoclassical city |
City of Bath: history
| 54 | Aquae Sulis plant |
| 577 | Conquered by the Saxons and renamed Akermanceaster |
| 676 | Foundation of a nunnery |
| 1090-1244 | Residence of the Bishop of Wells |
| 1107 | Construction of a Norman episcopal church |
| 1499 | Start of construction on the Abbey Church |
| 1616 | Consecration of the Abbey Church |
| 1755 | Rediscovery of the Roman Baths |
| 1758 | Completion of the residential complex “The King’s Circus” |
| 1767-74 | Plant of “The Royal Crescent” |
| 1770 | Construction of the Pulteney Bridge |
| 1789-92 | Plant of Lansdown Crescent |
| 1790-95 | Construction of the pump room |
| 1942 | Bomb attack by the German Air Force |
| March 2012 | During excavations in the historic center of Bath, one of the greatest coin treasures in Great Britain is discovered: the roughly 30,000 Roman coins date from the 3rd century. |
A Georgian valley of pleasure where water is healing
At the southern tip of the Cotswolds, a wooded amphitheater opens up in the meandering Avon valley, where the origins of Bath can be found. If you believe the legend, the place was founded in the ninth century BC by the Celtic prince Bladud, the father of Shakespeare’s King Lear. He is said to have discovered the healing springs by chance after contracting leprosy and having to work as a swineherd. But this was also his luck, because the pigs in his herd suffered from a skin disease that healed after the animals had bathed in a hot spring and basked in the mud. Since the prince wanted to try out the healing power of the water on his own body, he jumped into the warm water without further ado, treated himself to a mud pack and left the healing springs as a healthy man.
According to computergees, immediately after the Roman conquest of the British Isles, in the first half of the 1st century, the new masters were also drawn to the springs of Bath, known as Aquae Sulis. Little by little, considerable bathing facilities were built there, including the columned Roman baths, which are among the most impressive Roman buildings in Western Europe.
In post-Roman times, Bath developed into an important religious center, with the abbey church at its center. Edgar, the first King of England, was crowned here in 973 in a ceremony that is the basis of all the coronation celebrations of the successive English monarchs. The current abbey church of St. Peter and St. Paul was built in the 16th century where Saxon and Norman churches once opened their gates for worship. After Oliver King, the Bishop of Bath and Wells, had appeared in a dream to angels who were climbing a ladder to heaven between heaven and earth, and he had heard the words: “Let an olive tree be the root of a kingdom and a king build the church”, he suggested building the Abbey Church. Adorn the bishop’s dream images, carved in stone.
After the city was temporarily forgotten, it was remembered again in the 18th century and turned into an English spa. The design of the new city is owed to three men, on the one hand John Wood the Elder, whose idea was the urban redevelopment, on the other hand Ralph Allen, who provided the building material from his quarries, and finally Richard (Beau) Nash, who as uncrowned »King of Bath «organized the social life of the aspiring English spa town. Beau, who had a penchant for eye-catching clothing adorned with lace and braid, not only left no doubt about his aversion to riding boots, which the men of that time wore to receptions, but also banned the sword from the streets of the city.
Saint Kilda
Saint Kilda [snt k ɪ ldə], uninhabited archipelago some 180 km off the west coast of the Outer Hebrides, administrative region Western Isles, Scotland; the nesting sites for the largest gannet population are a UNESCO World Heritage Site.