World Heritage #0428 – City of Bath

Last modified 28.03.2022 | Published 17.07.2005North and Central Europe, United Kingdom, World Heritage Sites

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The Romans were in Bath too, bathing. Like they did elsewhere in Europe. Few other cities have received their names though because of their thermal baths. 

The UNESCO World Heritage List includes more than a thousand properties with outstanding universal value. They are all part of the world’s cultural and natural heritage.

 

Official facts

  • Country: United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
  • Date of Inscription: 1987
  • Category: Cultural site

UNESCO’s World Heritage Centre’s short description of site no. 428:

“Founded by the Romans as a thermal spa, Bath became an important centre of the wool industry in the Middle Ages. In the 18th century, under George III, it developed into an elegant town with neoclassical Palladian buildings, which blend harmoniously with the Roman baths.”

 

My visit

What a pleasant city! Not only its splendid architecture like the Royal Crescent, the Circus and the Abbey but certainly the Roman Baths. Imagine the home away from home feeling in the most remote of all Roman provinces! The hot springs must have had some healing effect – at least of a mental character.

The buildings a million tourists a year visit are however of a more recent date, the Roman baths are below the ground. The green water did however not tempt me to take a swim, in 2005.

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