“National Roman Legion Museum” and “Baths Museum”- Virtual Tour

The National Roman Legion Museum is one of three Roman sites in Caerleon, along with the Baths Museum and the open-air ruins of the Roman Amphitheater and Barracks. 

The Romans in Wales were the farthest point west that the Empire in Roman Britain extended. The fortress at Isca Augusta, now Caerleon, was constructed in 75 AD.

Isca Augusta was one of only three permanent Roman Legionary fortresses in Roman Britain. It was operational for just over 200 years.

The National Roman Legion Museum lies inside what remains of the fortress and contains many artifacts from the period of Isca Augusta of Legio II Augusta 

The ruin remains of Isca Augusta include:

• A military bathhouse in the Roman Baths Museum
• Roman amphitheater 
• Fortress walls
• A Roman legionary barracks at Prysg Field

The museum is located in the center of Roman Isca, on what was the via principalis leading to the amphitheater.

Many retired soldiers of the Second Augustan Legion settled in the nearby town of Venta Silurum, which is now Caerwent.

The first museum on the site was the Antiquarian Museum of 1850. Following the 1987 rebuilding and enlargement of the museum, only the portico now remains. 

Hoard of Roman coins discovered at Llanvaches buried around A.D. 160.

Highlights of the National Roman Legion Museum

• Roman currency
• Roman uniforms
• The Llanvaches Hoard
• Roman Mosaic floor

Roman Mosaic floor – National Roman Legion Museum

National Roman Legion Museum

• Museum:              National Roman Legion Museum
• Welsh:                  Amgueddfa Lleng Rufeinig Cymru
• City:                      Caerleon, Newport, Wales
• Country:               Wales
• State:                    United Kingdom
• Established:         1850
• Type:                    Archaeological museum
• Location:              Caerleon, Newport, Wales

National Roman Legion Museum Map

National Roman Legion Museum – 360 views

National Roman Legion Museum

Caerleon Roman Amphitheatre and fortress at Caerleon, Wales

Caerleon Roman Fortress and Baths

Caerleon Roman Fortress and Baths

The Caerleon Roman Fortress and Baths museum is a historical site located in the town of Caerleon, South Wales, close to the National Roman Legion Museum. 

The Roman Wales fortress at Caerleon was built in AD 75 was one of only three permanent Roman Legionary fortresses in Roman Britain. It was occupied and operational for just over 200 years.

The baths museum has a covered walkway over part of the remains of the military bathhouse. There was a frigidarium, tepidarium, and caldarium, as well as an open-air swimming pool.

Model of Roman Fortress and Baths at Caerleon, Wales, United Kingdom

Caerleon Roman Fortress and Baths

• Museum:             Caerleon Roman Fortress and Baths
• Welsh:                 Caer a Baddonau Rhufeinig Caerllion Amgueddfa
• City:                     Caerleon, Newport, Wales
• Country:              Wales
• State:                   United Kingdom
• Established:        1980
• Type:                   Archaeological museum
• Location:             Caerleon, Newport, Wales

Caerleon Roman Fortress and Baths Map

Finding Romans – Caerleon, Newport, Wales

Caerleon

Caerleon is a suburban town on the outskirts of the city of Newport, Wales. It has an archaeological site of a notable Roman legionary fortress, Isca Augusta, and an Iron Age hillfort.

Close to the remains of Isca Augusta are the National Roman Legion Museum and the Roman Baths Museum.

The town also has many historical and literary associations. Caerleon was a major center of British history in Geoffrey of Monmouth’s “Historia Regum Britanniae” (c.1136), and Alfred Lord Tennyson wrote Idylls of the King (1859-1885) while staying in Caerleon.

Roman Wall decoration, Bathhouse at Caerleon

Baths Museum 

Virtual Tour of the Museums in the United Kingdom

London Museums

• The British Museum
• The National Gallery, London
• Tate Britain
• The Wallace Collection
• The Victoria and Albert Museum
• Queen’s Gallery, Buckingham Palace
• Courtauld Gallery
• Tate Modern, London
• Science Museum, London
• National Portrait Gallery, London
• Natural History Museum
• Charles Dickens Museum
• Hampton Court Palace
• Sherlock Holmes Museum
• British Library
• Imperial War Museum
• Churchill War Rooms
• Florence Nightingale Museum
• Foundling Museum
• Grant Museum of Zoology and Comparative Anatomy
• Cutty Sark, Royal Museums Greenwich
• National Maritime Museum, Greenwich
• Old Royal Naval College, Greenwich
• Queen’s House, Greenwich
• Royal Observatory, Greenwich
• Guildhall Art Gallery
• HMS Belfast
• Jewel Tower
• Jewish Museum London
• Bank of England Museum
• London Transport Museum
• Museum of London
• Museum of London Docklands
• National Army Museum, London
• Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology
• Royal Air Force Museum London
• Shakespeare’s Globe
• Sir John Soane’s Museum
• St Paul’s Cathedral
• City of London Police Museum
• Household Cavalry Museum
• Museum of Freemasonry
• Tower Bridge, London
• Tower of London
• Wellcome Collection
• Westminster Abbey

Edinburgh Museums

• National Museum of Scotland
• Scottish National Gallery

Glasgow Museums

• Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum

Liverpool Museums

• Walker Art Gallery

Manchester Museums

• Manchester Art Gallery

Bath Museums

• Roman Baths (Bath)

Birmingham Museums

• Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery

Leeds Museums

• Leeds Art Gallery

Newcastle upon Tyne Museums

• Laing Art Gallery

Caerleon Roman Fortress

National Roman Museum and Roman Ruins | Caerleon

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“If you want to be a leader, be a bridge.”
– Welsh Proverb

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Photo Credit: Otter / CC BY-SA (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0); Helen Hall from Wales / CC BY-SA (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0); Otter / CC BY-SA (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0); Nilfanion / CC BY-SA (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0); Otter / CC BY-SA (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0); Nilfanion / CC BY-SA (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)