Bath: The Roman City & UNESCO World Heritage Gem

An elegant spa city dating back to the Roman times, full of traditional heritage, green spaces and also a few surprises. There's a lot more to this intriguing city than meets the eye and is the only city with UNESCO status in the UK. Welcome to the world famous city of Bath. Bath may be famous as being the but human activity around the hot springs dates back as far as 8000 BC. While the Roman baths may be the hub of the city's spa heritage, much of Bath as we see it today is thanks to the Georgian innovators who designed iconic parts of the city's architecture such as the Royal Crescent and the Circus. As well as being a vibrant and thriving 21st century city, Bath is a living museum. History and heritage align the city streets with every footstep revealing cultural attractions and astonishing architecture. It's why Bath is the only city in the UK to be designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Ever since its legendary beginnings, Bath has been home to a cast of colourful characters. It's well known that Jane Austen lived in Bath and used the city as a setting for some of her novels. The Roman baths are astonishingly well preserved. A temple was constructed on the site between 60 and 70 AD in the first few decades of Roman Britain. Its presence led to the development of the small Roman urban settlement known as Aquasulus around the site. The Roman bath was designed for public bathing and was a social complex. And it's one of the best preserved Roman remains in the world, where over 1 million litres of steaming spring water reaching 46 degrees centigrade still fills the bathing site every single day. Today Bath has around 5,000 listed buildings. The most famous is the Royal Crescent, comprising of 30 houses laid out in a crescent shape. Built between 1767 and 1774, it's among the greatest examples of Georgian architecture in the world. It was the first crescent of terrace houses to be built ever and a fine example of the Georgian style known as country in a city, with its views over the parkland opposite. The circus is inspired in part by the stone circle at Stonehenge. It is said that the orientation of Stonehenge is built around the rising and the setting sun, whereas the circus is said to represent the sun, with the Royal Crescent representing the moon. The Abbey Square is an interesting place to pass the time sitting on a bench. We really enjoyed listening to the wonderful music of great street artists and watching a number of people completely different from each other, so a perfect place for people watching. Built in a gothic style, the prestigious Abbey is a popular pilgrimage destination and an important city landmark. The history of this sacred place stretches as far back as Anglo-Saxon times. An Anglo-Saxon monastery was first constructed on the Abbey site, which is where King Edgar, the first king of all England, was crowned in 973 AD. This picturesque horseshoe weir was first built in the 1600s to prevent flooding in the town of Bath. For centuries Bath had suffered from the river Avon flooding, even the Romans had to raise the level of some of their baths complex to alleviate the problem. The purpose of the weir was to provide a difference in river level ahead of water that would drive the water wheels used to power the mills. We really hope you like our videos and please like and subscribe if you do.