A Bath en Grande-Bretagne, la naissance des thermes est rurale. La légende veut que le Prince Bladud découvre au IXe siècle avant J.C, grâce à des porcs qui s’y baignent, que l’eau chaude qui sort en pleine nature guérit les maladies de peau et donc la lèpre qu’il a contractée en revenant d’Athènes. Le culte de la déesse celte Sulis, identifiée à Minerve par les Romains génèrera un complexe thermal sur lequel s’établira la cathédrale. Mais c’est à partir du XVIIIe siècle que, devenues urbaines, les prairies qui entourent les sources, les établissements thermaux et les lieux de loisirs font place à l’aménagement de parcs et de promenades mondaines.La ville dispose d’un patrimoine culturel considérable dont l'architecture et l'urbanisme utopique date principalement de l'époque des Rois Georges. Ses musées, ses galeries, ses festivals, ses animations, ses visites culturelles font de Bath une ville connue du monde entier pour ses Bains mais aussi pour ses innovations scientifiques et ses gloires littéraires, ainsi que ses avancées architecturales et artistiques.
Bath
De Villes
et d'Eau
INFORMATIONS PRATIQUES
Site internet de la Ville de Bath
Site internet du Bath & North East Sommerset Council
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ILS Y ETAIENT...
“They arrived in Bath. Catherine was all eager delight; her eyes were here, there, everywhere, as they approached its fine and striking environs, and afterwards drove through those streets which conducted them to the hotel. She was come to be happy, and she felt happy already. They were soon settled in comfortable lodgings in Pultney Street.”
Jane Austen, Author
“We all got safe to Bath (thank God) this morning about ten o'clock, to the Castle Inn, where we made a second breakfast, and there also dined, supped and slept...After breakfasting at Bath we took a walk over the city till dinner to show Nancy the public rooms etc, she (his niece) being never in Bath before - gave for seeing them one shilling. We had very good accomodation at our inn.”
Reverend James Woodforde, Author
“Since my arrival in Bath I have, in spite of a fresh cold, slept very well, without any interruption from the asthma. I drink moderately of the water, ride out every day on the downs, eat like a horse, and if I could recover a little flesh I should think myself already cured; but the truth is I am thinner than when I saw you, and begin to be afraid of looking in the glass of a morning.”
Tobias Smollett, Poet and Author
© EHTTA - Réalisation : Marie Thomas-Penette