“Let me, however, counsel you not to waste your health in unprofitable sorrow, but go to Bath, and endeavour to prolong your own life”–Dr. Samuel Johnson
Bath is one of England’s oldest tourist destinations; people have been traveling to this site for centuries mystified by healing warm waters and high society. It first achieved its status as a sacred spa site in 43 AD, with the Roman settlement Aquae Sulis (“the waters of Sulis”) built around the thermal springs. While we were visiting Bath, we got to tour the ancient Roman Bath house next to Bath Abby. The Romans dedicated it to the goddess Sulis Minerva, goddess of poetry, medicine, wisdom, and magic. They built a temple in her honor and believed that if they wrote down requests and threw them into the water, Minerva would make their wishes come true. Because the messages were scratched into metal, the water preserved them to be discovered later. I thought it was really funny because they were all curses about petty crimes; someone stole someone else’s robe while they were bathing, etc. So Bath was full of drama even before British Regency time.
If you have visited Bath before, please share with us your favorite memory about this enchanting city!
After the Romans left England, the baths fell into disrepair and were eventually lost due to silting up, but were rediscovered and made popular once again during the Georgian era. This is why Bath has a beautiful mixture of Roman and Neo-Classical architecture. Bath was a place where the wealth would go on holiday, exceedingly fashionable and full of good society. During our free time I was able to visit the Jane Austen Museum in Bath. Jane Austen is one of my favorite authors and even though she disliked Bath and mocked high society, it was fun to experience what life would have been like during the Regency era. Every year the Jane Austen Festival is held in Bath. It holds the Guinness World Records for most people dressed in Regency costumes at one place. Also they teach proper etiquette, how to dance, and take part in a grand promenade through the city of Bath. It sounds like so much fun; I may have to come back to Bath!
What is everyones favorite Jane Austen book, heroine, and Austen man?