The first shrine at the site of the hot springs was built by Celts, and was 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 at Bath, starting in the first century CE and used for four centuries. After the Roman withdrawal in the first decade of the fifth century, these fell into disrepair and were eventually lost due to silting up. The hot waters, thought to be medicinal, were used through the Middle Ages and redeveloped in the eighteenth century, housed in buildings by two architects named John Wood, father and son. Victorian expansion of the baths complex respectfully followed the neo-Palladian tradition established by the Woods (illustration, right). The Roman complex, rediscovered in the late nineteenth century and reopened to the public in 1897, as well as being a major archaeological find, has become one of the city's main tourist attractions, in multi-media presentations.
The water that flows through the Roman Baths is considered unsafe for bathing, partly due to its having passed through the still-functioning original lead pipes, but more significantly because of encephalitis having been found in the water. The newly-constructed Thermae Bath Spa nearby, designed by Nicholas Grimshaw & Partners, allows modern-day bathers to experience the waters via a series of more recently-drilled boreholes.
