Day 22: Visiting the Spa

Ethan and I had a busy first full day in Bath.  After a nice breakfast in our hotel, we headed into the center of Bath.  We decided to visit the Roman baths and museum first.

Even though we were at the bath complex relatively soon after opening, the place was PACKED.  There were so many families and tour groups that it was nearly impossible to move around.

The visit starts at viewing platforms over the main pool.  The platforms go all the way around the pool and are decorated with 19th century statues of Roman emperors, governors of Britain, and generals.  These include Julius Caesar, who led the first Roman incursion into Britain, Claudius, who ordered the large scale invasion of Britain, and Julius Agricola, a Roman governor of Britain known for subjugating and Romanizing the province.

The bath complex was built in a Roman town called Aquae Sulis, the Waters of Sulis.  The site had been known for its natural hot springs and before Roman times, had been considered the home of a Celtic goddess, Sulis.  The Romans adapted this belief, creating the syncretism of the Sulis Minerva.  A large complex and holy site developed around these springs.  The complex contained a naturally fed pool, tradition bathing rooms, and a temple dedicated to Sulis Minerva.  Above is an employee of the museum, dressed as a Roman priest.

From the main hot springs pool, we entered the museum.  I was surprised by how much the museum, and the site in general, was dedicated to the holy area of the complex.  I think that the name Bath distracts from what I've ever heard about the site.  It's so much more than the typical Roman bathhouses I've visited.

The temple was just next to the baths.  Though it was dedicated to Sulis Minerva, there were many altars and depictions of other deities within the temple courtyard and the surrounding area.  Facing the interior courtyard were two large depictions of Sol and Luna, the Sun and the Moon.  Below is the depiction of Luna, with the crescent moon behind her.  It also seems she is holding a whip, probably to urge on the horses of her biga, a two-wheeled chariot.  Sadly, the depiction of Sol is lost.

There were altars to many and varied gods found in temple area, including those dedicated to Aesculapius, Diana, Mercury, Jupiter, and Celtic deities, like Rosmerta.  The carving below supposedly depicts Celtic mother goddesses in a triplicate form.  There was even a dedication from the tomb of a German veteran, showing that some Germanic deities were worshiped in Bath.  All of these different religions came together in this sacred area.

One of the things I was dying to see in Bath were the curse tablets found in the spring.  This practice represents another blending of Roman and British religious customs.  Traditionally, Roman curse tablets were placed in places linked to chthonic deities and crossroads, such as cracks in walls or underground, but in Bath they were pretty much exclusively thrown into the spring.  The Romans adapted to native beliefs of connections to deities, using water as the access point.

Though many curse tablets were just addressed to "the goddess" (presumably Sulis Minerva), others were dedicated to gods like Mercury and Mars.  This curse tablet is a complaint about a theft, which seems to be what most of the Bath curse tablets were about, and lists the names of possible suspects to help the gods curse the right person.

Below is a depiction of Sulis Minerva in gilt bronze.  Not much is known about the goddess Sulis before the introduction of the Romans, other than that she was worshipped in the area of the holy springs.  She may have had similar characteristics to Minerva, such as wisdom and decisions, but this is not necessarily correct.  Sadly, we'll probably never know much about the original worship of Sulis.

Through much of the museum, it was possible to see how the natural hot springs fed the main pool of the complex and how the Romans harnessed these waters.  Much of the original Roman construction remains in use, but has been adapted by later users of the baths.  Ethan very intelligently pointed out that the areas around the spring were covered in rust, as the water is high in iron content (We can both attest to this, as they had a tasting station of the spring water.  It tasted eerily like blood.).  The water was warm enough to be steaming and casting some heat; the water coming out of the springs can reach up to 115º F.

On either side of the main pool were more traditional Roman bathing rooms.  The baths were on a fairly large scale, much larger than the town of Aquae Sulis would have required.  This is because the holiness of the site would have drawn many to come visit the baths, much like tourists flock to it today.  Below are some of the hypocausts found beneath the floors of the heated rooms in the baths.

After we finished the baths (and escaped much of the crowds), we headed into Bath Abbey.  I believe that yesterday I called the church Bath Cathedral.  This is not accurate, although the Abbey was once a cathedral.  Bath Abbey was founded in around 675 as a convent, but was later changed to an abbey. Bath Abbey was purchased in the late 11th century and turned into the seat of diocese.  It only held this title for seventy-eight years, before the diocese seat was moved again.  The church eventually fell into disrepair.

Moves to restore the church were made as early as the 1570s, when Queen Elizabeth I personally advocated for the restoration of a grand church for Bath.  The majority of restoration to the church happened in the mid-19th century, restoring the exterior and the interior of the abbey.

The famous fan ceiling of the abbey was completed in the 1860s, but had been the brainchild of a 15th century bishop.

The organ of the abbey was replaced in 1997 with this beautiful Klais Orgelbau pipe organ.

Ethan and I wandered around more in the afternoon, including walking along the River Avon.  The picture above shows Pulteney Bridge, a Georgian addition to the city.  The bridge is lined with stores and restaurants.

We made our way up through The Circus and went to the Royal Crescent.  The Crescent is another Georgian architectural wonder of Bath.  The building was originally designed as thirty terraced homes, but now only ten remain single family homes.  Twelve have been split into apartments, one is a museum for the Crescent, and one is a hotel.

With many of the maps of Bath we've collected, Ethan and I have found many options for discounts for food and beverages.  Sadly, none seemed to be available on a Saturday night.  But we did have a lovely restaurant at a French restaurant.  We seem to be taking a tour of Mediterranean cuisine!

Fun Fact #22: In the bath complex, there is a depiction of a legendary King of the Britons, Bladud.  He has no basis in history, but seems to have been a creation by Geoffrey of Monmouth.  On top of founding Bath (in the 9th century CE), he is credited with being educated in Athens and founding a university in England that was later suppressed by Augustine of Canterbury.  Seems like a busy (fictional) guy!

Day 19: Turning to the Sylvan Wye

Today I went on tour of some amazing sites outside of Cardiff.  When doing research for this trip, my mother stumbled upon a company called See Wales Tours that runs trips from Cardiff, including one title Romans and Ruins.  The itinerary was a visit to the Roman amphitheater, baths, and museum in Caerleon, the Roman town in Caerwent, Tintern Abbey in Wye Valley, and Raglan Castle.

I met the group outside the National Museum Cardiff at 9:00 and we were soon heading out of Cardiff.  Our first stop was the the amphitheater at Caerleon.  Unlike the two other amphitheaters I've seen on this trip, the whole circumference of the Caerleon theater is excavated.  This made it a really striking sight.  The ground level is about twelve to fifteen feet higher than in Roman times, so though the theater looks very low today, it would have been a very imposing fixture on the banks of the River Usk.  

One of the amphitheater's main features was a shrine to Nemesis, the goddess of divine retribution.  There was a very similar shrine in the amphitheater at Chester, as Nemesis was closely connected to gladiatorial competitions.  The amphitheater at Caerleon is slightly smaller than the one in Chester, seating around 6,000 people.

From the amphitheater, we headed to the bath complex.  The complex was much larger than what is shown today.  Today, platforms take you around the full extent of the natatio (an open air swimming pool), part of the apodyteria (warmed changing rooms), and a small portion of the frigidarium (the cold room).

The lightly in the museum hosting the bath remains was not particularly conducive to photography, so I haven't included any photos.  That being said, the lighting did some very cool effects.  A project played videos of swimmers doing laps in the natatio, accompanied with the sounds of splashing and cannonballs, and red light played over the hypocaust that would have heated the apodyteria.  It was a sort of lovely effect, breathing some life into the ruins.  I think it's especially great with the large number of school trips we saw visiting the site.

The museum at Caerleon had a lot of great items, but I was surprised that it might not have been quite as extensive as the museum in Newport.  Still, I got see lovely collections of local and imported pottery, large inscribed stones, coins from throughout the occupation of Britain, and, of course, Roman military paraphernalia.

Caerleon was home to a Roman fort, built by the Legio II Augusta.  The first fort was built around the mid-70s CE and was occupied until the Legio II Augusta left Britain in around 290 CE.  Evidence left behind by the army included spearheads, like the bronze one seen above, arrow heads, a helmet, axe heads, and everything else needed to wage war and house an army.  It was also nice to see some artifacts from the Roman cavalry, which are not very commonly seen in Britain.  These artifacts probably came from a cavalry attachment to the legion.  One piece that they had seems to have been a nailed on horse shoe, but I've heard conflicting stories about when these were invented and came into use.  I'll have to investigate more!

The museum also had plenty of artifacts from the everyday life in a Roman town.  A great detail the exhibit included was a model of a Roman loaf of bread.  It's wonderful because it shows how Roman bakers marketed themselves.  With a stamp bearing his name, the baker imprinted the loaves of bread, so every bite reminded the buyer who had baked the delicious bread and maybe tipped off a few passersby as well!

The museum had a fair number of Roman inscriptions, ranging from commemorations of temple renovation to funerary markers for Roman veterans.  Now I have to feel bad for Julia Senica (maybe Seneca) and whomever paid for her tombstone to be engraved.  I don't think they did a very good job.  But it probably suggests that Julia Senica was from a rather poor family who could not afford one of the better engravers, and instead ended up with something that looks like my handwriting.

To my disappointment, we missed the barracks in Caerleon and headed out.  This disappointment continued as our next destination was announced as Tintern Abbey in the Wye Valley, rather than Caerwent, the other Roman site I was planning on visiting.  But I had planned an extra day in the Cardiff area if something like this occurred, and I was soon distracted by the beauty of the Wye Valley.

I think I quite literally lost my breath when I first saw Tintern Abbey from the van.  Huge, open stone arches in the middle of the beautiful valley landscape.  I was struck by the immense scale of the ruins and the haunting skeleton of the buildings.

Wandering through the abbey, I was pretty overwhelmed; I wanted to capture everything, but almost didn't know how to start.  Though the ruins are extensive, the most beautiful portion (in my opinion, and I suspect many others) is the ruined church.  The building in ruins today dates from the 13th century, although the abbey was founded in the 12th century.

Tintern Abbey was home to Cistercian Monks, who are also known as White Monks because of the color of their cucculas, robes worn over a habit.  Cistercians, like most monks it seems, rejected opulence and lived austere lives, so they did not dye their robes, leaving them the off-white color of a sheep.  Our tour guide, Adrian, did have a great point though: how could you live in such a magnificent, beautiful place, and not find it opulent?

Responding to a request from my mother, I had Adrian and some fellow travelers take photos of me throughout the day.

Like almost all abbeys and monasteries in the British Isles, the Dissolution destroyed any chance of Tintern's survival.  The abbeys valuables were sent to the crown, the about and monks were paid and sent off, and the lead from the abbey roof was sold, leading to the quick demise of the buildings.  Over the centuries, the abbey lay vacant and was slowly reused to building homes and farms around the area.

Tintern Abbey has inspired a great deal of amazing art, from painting to poetry.  J.M.W. Turner painted the ruins in 1795 and writers, such as Alfred, Lord Tennyson and Allen Ginsberg were inspired by visits.  Perhaps most notably, and the inspiration of this post's title, was William Wordsworth's poem "Lines written a few miles above Tintern Abbey."  I recommend rereading it, as it is a beautiful, classic English Romantic poem.

Also, if, for any reason, you are traveling to Wales, make sure you go to Tintern Abbey.  I can't express, and I don't think my photos can either, how beautiful and fascinating it was.

After having lunch at the Tintern Abbey Mill Craft Center, we headed out of the Wye Valley and towards Raglan Castle.  Raglan Castle is one of the youngest castles in Wales, being built in the mid-1400s.  The castle has a wonderful main gateway, called the White Gate.  It would have been a dominating sight from throughout the countryside.

I've also been struck by the Welsh countryside throughout my trip.  It often reminds me of the Tuscan hills, especially the farmland around Raglan Castle.  I feel like this view from a window in the castle could easily be looking at the Italian countryside.

There is also a Norman style motte and keep built next to the castle.  Apparently I was feeling a bit masochistic, and decided to climb to the top of the keep.  It gave great views of the main castle and the countryside.  I have lots of great facts about the castle, but to be completely honest I'm too tired right now decide which to share.  So ask me another time!

After our Raglan Castle, we made our way back to Cardiff, fighting through some traffic, but getting back to Cardiff Castle in about forty-five minutes.  I then had a quiet evening, dominated by processing and editing my 500+ photos from the day!  A pretty amazing day, especially for one of my final ones in Wales!

Fun Fact #19: Did you know that both garderobes and wardrobes are derived from medieval toilets?  A garderobe was a small hole, providing an exit for detritus from the castle.  This detritus included human waste, as castle residents would go to the bathroom by these holes and then it would be washed out.  Now, you would be very right to ask how clothes got combined with toilets.  Folks in medieval times theorized that the garderobes smelled so badly that it would pretty much scare off anything.  So, if they hung there clothes near the garderobes, all the fleas and lice that bothered them would scurry out of their garments.  I wonder how this worked.  It seems like all the smell might just attract more bugs...  Either way, I'm sure we're all very happy that garderobes and wardrobes are sonly for clothes now!

Day 10: Eyeing Roman Ruins

Today began much earlier than it should have, around 12:45 AM to be exact.  I was awoken to someone coming into my room, and although I didn't understand exactly what he said, the blaring alarm and words "fire" and "get out" stuck out pretty distinctly.  I headed outside, grabbing my camera and my hard drive where I save all my photos (what priorities I have!)  We stood around for a few minutes, watching firemen go in and out of the hotel.  There was no smell of smoke or any evidence of fire and eventually we were let back in.  I believe I overheard this morning that it had something to do with a faulty alarm panel.

So I got up this morning, slightly less well rested than I had hoped to be, and headed to the bus station to try to make my way to Wroxeter where a Roman town remains in ruins.  I had just missed a bus and the next one was not for an hour and forty-five minutes, so I decided to go to Shrewsbury Castle.  The castle is a beautiful red color, which stood starkly against the grey, wet sky.  It's quite small, looking more like a country manor house than a proper castle.  This is because the original medieval origins have disappeared to make way for a newer castle.  Up a hill above the castle, is Laura's Tower, a scenic tower looking out over Shrewsbury.

I decided to go into the Shropshire Regimental Museum, housed in the castle as I had so much time to kill.  The collections were impressive and gave great details about British military history.  I was amazed by the collections of honorary medals they had, quite possibly thousands.  I also learned that the first British casualty in World War II was a native, a corporal named Thomas Priday.  It was also entertaining to see some of the military history of the American Revolutionary War from the other side.  I walked into one part of the museum and internally shouted, "The Red Coats are coming!"  I'm a true Bay Stater, through and through.

After taking my time in the museum, I still had plenty of time on my hands and walked farther back into town.  I went to St. Mary's Church, a church located towards the center of Shrewsbury.  Like many churches I've visited in the U.K., they have opened a cafe in one of the side chapels of the church.  I think this is such a clever idea of using space that is generally unused and a way to increase income for churches, many of which need substantial money for repairs.

The church was very beautiful on the inside, but most striking was the stained glass window behind the altar.  It is a 14th century depiction of the Tree of Jesse that has supposedly been in three different churches in Shrewsbury.  Though its been repaired and moved multiple times, many of the original pieces of glass are still in good condition.

I grabbed some lunch on my way back to the bus station and arrived just in time to catch my bus to Wroxeter.  It had been lightly raining all day and continued to as I walked towards the visitor center at the Roman town.  I decided to visit the small museum first to get a sense of the site and the history and to hopefully let the rain stop.

The site was originally home to a Roman fort called Viroconium, built around 58 CE by the Legio XIV Gemina. The legio XX Valeria Victrix soon replaced them, but the fort was not used for long.  Although it was initially an important staging ground for excursions into Wales, the Roman military focus shifted to the north and Chester rose as the main military base.  As the Roman military left Viroconium, they pulled down the walls and destroyed buildings to prevent any native tribes or rebels from taking the defensible position.

As the Roman army moved out, Viroconium transformed into a town.  Veterans stayed behind and locals from the Cornovii tribe moved in.  The town already had traders and markets established and continued to grow as civilian destination.  Over time, it became the fourth largest town in Roman Britain.  The town grew, building more public spaces such as bathes, a market hall, and a forum.  The city, although mixed with different peoples, took on a Roman-style of administration and many of the daily practices stayed within Roman customs.

The city continued to thrive during Roman occupation, even with through changes.  The rise of Christianity altered the nature of the town, as it did in many parts of the empire.  There is evidence for the coexistence of a Christian church and Roman temples during the 3rd century CE, but by the 4th century the worship of pagan gods had been abandoned.  Sacred objects, like the statuette below to Venus, were discarded and found by archaeologists in dump heaps.

When the Romans left Britain in 410 CE, the town was not abandoned.  In the previous years, Viroconium Cornoviorum, as the town (not the fort) was known, had become more self reliant, with fewer imports from other parts of the Empire and more locally made products coming into use.  The town was in a position to survive without connections across the English Channel.  And it did survive for a time, but as conflict rose in sub-Roman Britain, the town began to fade.  In the 6th century, a Mercian king forced all the Christians out of the remaining town.  By the 7th century, the site was abandoned and many of the buildings had been torn down and repurposed.

Today, a very small fraction of Viroconium Cornoviorum has been excavated.  The majority of the excavations are the massive bath complex at the site.  Like in Segontium, most of the ruins just show the foundations of the buildings.  A notable exception is a large piece of the bath wall, nicknamed the Old Work by locals.  The piece comes from the ball of the basilica, that connected into the rest of the bath house.  The basilica would have been 245 feet long by 66 feet wide.  Clearly these bathes and public buildings were meant to accommodate a major settlement, unlike the 600 square foot bathhouse in Prestatyn.

The baths had a large series of hypocausts to heat what would have been a very large tepidarium and calidarium.  The bath also included some unusual features for a place like Shrewsbury.  The most interesting was a natatio, a large, unheated, open-air swimming pool.  It clearly wasn't very popular in the dreary English weather, as it was filled in fairly quickly.

Abutting against the bath complex were multiple public buildings, including a market hall, rooms for officials to meet, and just across a street, the forum.  The market hall would have been two stories and seemed to have at least ten rooms on the first floor for stalls to be set up.  The forum area has not been excavated and the Roman road running between the two areas has been paved over with a modern road.  The forum area is actually underneath a replica of a Roman country house.

The replica home is constructed based off buildings excavated in the Wroxeter area and is meant to represent a Roman home around 320 CE.  I wonder at the decision to build the replica house rather than excavate the forum beneath, but it was an interesting experience to walk through a fully constructed Roman home.  The house contained exemplary rooms, such as a shop at the front of the house that could have been used as a family store, a triclinium (dining room), cubicula (used for various things, but here shown as a bedroom), and small bath complex in the home.  Though the home seems to be set up for teaching children about Roman home life, I still enjoyed wandering through the rooms and getting a fuller sense of what a Roman house was like.

I then scurried off to catch a bus back into Shrewsbury, as they ran every two hours and I had exhausted what I could see at the site.  Wroxeter was a lovely and informative site, but sadly so much has been left undiscovered there.  Hopefully, there will be more chances to dig there!

Fun Fact #10: There is some evidence that Viroconium Cornoviorum was a center for treating eye ailments.  In ancient Roman medicine and religion, it was common to give an offering of the ailed body part to Aesculapius, as an offering to be healed.  Usually there was a promise of future sacrifices as well.  In Wroxeter many fragments with depictions of eyes have been found, like the ones above.  This suggests that there was some specialist or specialists in the town treating (and probably successfully) problems with the eyes!