First stop on the way to Bath was the even more ancient Stonehenge.
Here's the whole thing:
Enigmatic, imposing, impossibly grand, wildly labor-intensive: by whom and for what? The stones keep their secrets.
In years past, this site has kept visitors at a distant remove from these enormous standing stones, but it has been somewhat reconfigured so that one can get a little closer, although, for obvious reasons, one can't do what one really wants to do, which is walk among them! (Maxx and Zoe - these things are HUGE!) As with many historic sites nowadays, there is a helpful audioguide which walks you around the henge providing (mostly) useful commentary.
The "henge" of Stonehenge is its earliest phase, constructed in around 3000 BC and composed of an earthen circular ditch and bank. You can see the rise of the ground in the picture above.
This picture clearly shows the shorter inner stones and the taller outer ring. The inner Bluestones - so named because they have a blue hue when wet - were probably brought to the site around 2500BC, and came from 240 miles away in Wales! They weigh roughly 4 tons each, and it is estimated that there were over 80 of them brought to the site both by water and over land - scholars aren't quite certain how, but for sure these folks were on a mission and were pretty darned resourceful! The taller outer ring of stone, the Sarsten stones, come from around 20 miles away and weigh 50 tons each. Consider that up to 1/3 of these stones is below ground! Here's a description of how they were erected:
"Once on site, a sarsen stone was prepared to accommodate stone lintels along its top surface. It was then dragged until the end was over the opening of the hole. Great levers were inserted under the stone and it was raised until gravity made it slide into the hole. At this point, the stone stood on about a 30° angle from the ground. Ropes were attached to the top and teams of men pulled from the other side to raise it into the full upright position. It was secured by filling the hole at its base with small, round packing stones. At this point, the lintels were lowered into place and secured vertically by mortice and tenon joints and horizontally by tongue and groove joints. " WHEW! As Carter might say, I'll bet they stayed up all night thinking that up!
In the picture above, you can see the lump on top of one of the Sarsen stones which was at one time fitted into a corresponding hollow in the absent lintel stone. This outer ring was completed around 1500 BC.
I'm not going to go into the WHY of Stonehenge, but do recommend the article in the June 2008 National Geographic for some theories as well as information from recent finds about just who the people who built this and many other neolithic monuments might have been.
A few more shots:
Greetings from not-so-sunny Stonehenge! Wish you were here!
Carter thought this one up.
Oooohhhh....spooky!
I kinda see a face in the one in the center below....is he winking?
Here are some links with information for those who would like to know more:
http://witcombe.sbc.edu/earthmysteries/EMStonehenge.html
http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/server/show/nav.876
http://www.britannia.com/history/h7.html
Then...on to Bath!
The Roman Baths have been excavated and reformulated, with a fantastic museum including the ever-present audioguide (Bill Bryson provides some commentary - he's all over the place these days!) as well as a real modern spa for those who want to take the waters and a grand and ritzy - and wildly expensive - restaurant. First, a few shots of the baths:
Carter poses as a Roman, but sadly would not wear the toga.
This is the overflow area, orange from the iron in the water.
...And here's the pig to match at the Sacred Spring!
He's channeling the porcine Romans who used to hang out here, perhaps....
(Bath is awash in fancy porkers this summer! According to legend, the ancient King Bladud, father of King Lear, contracted leprosy and was thus reduced to swineherding. His unfortunate pigs contracted the disease from him, and were cured of it when they rolled in the mud near modern day Bath. Observing this, Bladud too immersed himself in a bath of mud and was cured. In thanks, he founded the city of Bath. As a municipal art and fundraising project, 100 pig statues have been decorated by local artists and are spread around the city, often in unlikely places. More to come!)
The Romans, despite the imposition of impossibly straight roads on this very curvy little Island, were great assimilators, and therefore sort of fused Minerva and Sulis into one deity governing Bath, even naming it Aquae Sulis. They used the place for worship and for bathing, which was an extremely important and ritualized activity. There were a series of baths - hot, cooler, coolest - and servants to scrape and massage and oil one's epidermis into cleanliness. And the baths were coed...and folks were naked...there was some mention of the sacred and the profane...one can only imagine.
The museum has many artifacts discovered in and around the waters, including this amazing gorgon head who once looked out from the pediment of one of the many temples:
He's a little out of focus because I couldn't use a flash and do him any justice at all; I am including some links at the end of the post which will offer better shots of him.
Your ticket to the Baths also gets you a glass of the water! Who could resist? So Carter and I each had a glass of the warm, slightly salty stuff - not foul, but not what you'd call tasty - from the very cool fountain:
If we live forever, we know who to blame!
Another shot, with the amazing Bath Abbey rising behind:
Speaking of the Abbey, Carter and I found much to love in this very decorated English Perpendicular style Gothic structure, both inside and out. As with so many cathedrals and churches in Britain, it has been a sacred site back to Anglo-Saxon times, and probably was a Celtic holy place before that. The current Abbey was begun in 1499, ravaged of it's metal and treasures in 1539 by Henry the 8th's henchmen during the disoolution of the monasteries, and then restored by Elizabeth I. It is a marvel of flying buttresses, fan vaulting, and soaring spaces replete with light and grace.
Below, a shot of the exterior:
I'm debating the iconography of this next carving: the tree of life gives rise to the king whose growth and power all is overmastered by the church, or...everyone but the bishop likes broccoli. You decide!
Interiors:
Fan-vaulting in the ceiling, apparently a uniquely British style.
We often find a mixture of the modern and the ancient in cathedrals and churches, and the altar cloths at Bath are a great example of how this can work, and work well. The altar cloths here are the work of woman who travels around to churches with a group of embroiderers
creating her art on site, using the place itself as inspiration. This picture does no justice to the beautiful, jewel-like colors in the fabric and the radiance of this fountain of gold. The shimmering green color of the cloth was referenced throughout the Abbey.
But what REALLY knocked me out were the altar cloths in a little side chapel, the Chapel of Gethsemene, which is dedicated to remembering those who are lost, suffering, gone, and which holds the Bath Book of Remembrance.
Once again, the picture isn't as clear as I would like, but notice the motif of the crown of thorns entwined by barbed wire (also referenced in the candle holder), the central gold and silver flower-like symbol which echoes the Gorgon's head, the sky/water shimmer of the blue suggesting us, our blue blue planet....
On the prayer sheet provided was this, called a Caim or encircling prayer, of early Celtic Christian origin but surely accessible to all, and this one directed towards victims of violence and injustice:
Circle them, O God, in your presence
Keep truth within, keep falsehood out
Keep compassion within, keep hard-heartedness out
Keep love within, keep hatred out
Keep light within, keep darkness out
Simple words to live by.
Another wonder of the Abbey are the wooden carvings of fantastic creatures in the Chantry:
LOVE these guys!
The baths fell into ruin along with the Roman Empire, and Bath languished for a long time, but came back to life as THE place to go in the 18th century. This is when the town we see today, almost all of which is made of the pale beige sandstone called Bath stone, came into being, and it is truly a beautiful and unusual, in its mono-tint glory.
The circus, which is an entire circle of what you see below:
The Royal Crescent:
Jane Austin and her family lived in Bath in its heyday - fitting, no?
And..wait for it, wait for it...before we bid a fond farewell to Bath, a few more pigs!
A few links for more information about Bath:
The Roman Baths:
http://www.romanbaths.co.uk/
The Abbey:
http://www.frommers.com/destinations/bath/A25243.html
http://www.sacred-destinations.com/england/bath-abbey.htm
General about Bath:
http://www.sacredsites.com/europe/england/bath.html
http://www.beautiful-england.co.uk/bath.htm
http://www.reggie.net/album.php?albid=202
http://www.visitbath.co.uk/site/things_to_do/p_25681
And...the pigs!
http://www.kingbladudspigs.org/
1 comment:
Lanaux!! Your pictures and descriptions were fabulous!! It has been great following on behind you two tis summer!!
xoxokat
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