Bath is one of Britain's most appealing cities. With its exquisite Roman and Georgian architecture, well-preserved Roman baths and buzzing cosmopolitanism, Bath is an obligatory stop on any UK tourist trail. and swish spas that make it hard to resist.
Bath’s namesake is a majestic complex of bathing facilities right in the city centre. The naturally occurring hot waters of the area have been appreciated for at least two millennia – the Romans built the surviving subterranean caverns in the first century CE, and folklore has it that the pagan King Bladud constructed his own baths here even earlier (one version claims that the waters cured Bladud of leprosy!). The well-maintained Roman facilities buried beneath street level are a unique historic treasure trove, visited by over a million tourists every year.
No tour of the city is complete without a stop at the Royal Crescent. Occupying a majestic position overlooking the expanses of the Royal Victoria Park, the Crescent is a marvel of Georgian architecture. Of particular interest is No 1, which is maintained by Bath Preservation Trust as a painstaking recreation of the interior of a typical 18th-century upper-class dwelling and can now be entered and explored as a museum.
Just a few yards from the Roman baths are another tourist hot spot: Bath Abbey. It was founded in the seventh century BCE by the Anglo-Saxon king of the Hwicce, Osric, then sporadically rebuilt and renovated over the years. The abbey is particularly striking to architectural enthusiasts especially for its gothic features, while its huge stained-glass windows and stone sculptures are engaging to even the most casual of observers. Still functioning both as a place of worship and as a museum of regional heritage.
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Founder and Creative Director / Fondatrice et Directrice Artistique chez Flights of Fancy
6moJust as my French skills are essential in working with Francophone artisans and suppliers in Paris, my high school Spanish helped iron out lots of wrinkles with work crews while directing this project in Austin. 😉