ROMAN BATHS

The Roman Baths are a tourist attraction and historical place of interest in the English city of Bath. They are a very well preserved Roman site of public bathing, and have become a major tourist attraction.

HISTORY OF THE ROMAN BATHS

The first shrine at the site of the springs was built by Celts, and dedicated to the goddess Sulis, whom the Romans identified with Minerva; however, the name Sulis continued to be used after the Roman invasion, leading to the town's Roman name of Aquae Sulis (literally, "the waters of Sulis").

During the Roman occupation of Britain increasingly grand temples and bathing complexes were built, but after the Roman withdrawal these fell into disrepair and were eventually lost due to silting up.

They were rediscovered in the 18th century and, as well as being a major archaeological find, they have from that time to the present been one of the city's main attractions, though the water is now considered unsafe for bathing, due to its having passed through the still-functioning lead pipes constructed by the Romans. The Thermae Bath Spa project aims to eventually allow modern-day bathers to experience the waters for themselves.

THE THERMAE BATH SPA

Thermae Bath Spa is a multi-million pound development project in the city of Bath in Somerset.

One of the city's main attractions is its famous hot spa water, which was the basis of the importance of Bath in the Roman period, and also of the development of Bath as the leading eighteenth and early nineteenth century health resort. However, the existing spa pools were closed in the 1970s as a result of the discovery of an infectious agent in one stratum of the aquifer.

With the approach of the Year 2000, money from the lottery-funded Millennium Commission was made available towards a major project to reopen a safe commercial spa once more, and supplemented by funds from subscribers and from the local authority, Bath and North East Somerset. A new company, Thermae Bath Spa, was set up in the Netherlands to operate the new spa and allow tourists and residents to experience the natural spring waters.

The new spa is primarily sited in a new building on the site of the old swimming pool in Beau Street which manages to combine an ultra-modernist style with great sympathy for its Georgian surroundings; but there are a number of other aspects of the new development, including a refurbishment of the Cross Bath.

Originally planned to open in 2002, and despite a formal opening with the aid of the "Three Tenors" in 2003, the project is seriously behind schedule and over budget for several reasons. According to Bath and North East Somerset, the originally budgeted cost of £13.5 million will rise to £35.7 million, and there have been lengthy legal disputes with contractors. Further, the wrong paint was applied to the main pool and cost a further £4 million to remedy.

As yet the opening date of the complex is unknown, but is expected to be in spring 2006.

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