Adelaide's Travel Notes - England, UK

England
Bath

Bath is one of England's main tourist destinations. On the right, Pulteney bridge, one of the city landmarks, built over the river Avon in 1769.

Bath Abbey is a gothic church built by the end of the 15th century on the site of a Norman church from the 11th century. The Abbey has many beautiful stained windows. On the right, an interesting detail of the façade, with angels climbing a staircase.
	The Romans conquered this region in 43 AD and a few years later they built baths to take profit of the underground hot springs found there. After the Romans withdrew from England, the original Roman baths were forgotten, until excavations in the 19th century incidently unveiled the ruins.
But throughout the centuries Bath's waters had remained famous for their healing power and in the 18th century the Roman Baths and Pumproom were built, allowing visitors to drink and bathe under medical guidance. The underground ruins are now a museum than can be visited with the assistance of an audio guide.
In the 18th century, the city flourished and its main buildings were designed by the architect John Wood and his son in neo-classical style.
	The Circus consists of 30 houses built around a circle, was designed by John Wood the Elder and built from 1754 to 1769. Each of the three stories of the buildings are decorated with Jonic, Doric and Corynth columns, shown in the details. Below, the Royal Crescent, a group of residential buildings arranged in a crescent shape, built by John Wood the Younger from 1767 to 1775.

The detail of a building on the right shows a curiousity: once there was a tax for buildings that took into account the number of windows, thus people plastered some of them, but their frames remain.
	Bath is known as the City of Flowers. On the left, Parade Gardens. I also visited the Postal Museum and The Royal Photographic Society. The City of Bath was nominated a World Heritage site by UNESCO in 1987.

Links
Bath, UK Tourism Site
Virtual Tour, by Bath.co.uk
Bath, by The UK Travel Guide
Tourist information for Bath, by BA1
Bath and West Online
Bath Preservation Trust
What to see in Bath, by Britain Express
City of Bath Guide