Italy is the undisputed leader among the countries of the Mediterranean region in the number of sources of healing water. The thermal resorts of this country have a wonderful climate and magnificent natural landscapes. It should be noted that hydrotherapy in sunny Italy has been used since the days of the Roman Empire. It was during these times that water therapy and visits to thermal spas were considered a characteristic feature of urban life, as well as a symbol of financial well-being.
The proximity of many Italian thermal spas to major cultural centers of the country today has turned them into an ideal starting point for exploring the culture and history of this magnificent country. The richness of the cold and hot sources of groundwater is explained by the geological structure of the Apennine Peninsula. There are many volcanoes on its territory, and its bowels are cut by a network of underground canals.
What are thermal spas?
As a rule, these are small resort towns located near thermal springs. They are not similar to sanatoriums in the usual sense of the word for a Soviet person. These are very modern, cozy cities, located away from the hustle and bustle, often at the foot of mountains or hills.
The northern regions of Italy, in particular Veneto, are rich in sources of cold and hot water. The main treatment here is mud and balneotherapy, which is especially effective for rheumatism, gynecological diseases and respiratory infections.
In almost all regions, Italy has similar resorts. The thermal resorts of the southern regions are concentrated in the Emilia Romano area. Sulfur-containing waters with an admixture of iodide, chloride, and sodium bromide predominate here. They are recommended for metabolic disorders, diseases of the respiratory system, heart and blood vessels, and for some types of skin diseases.
What is the difference between thermal and spa resorts?
Spas can be located anywhere: in the thermal spa, in the city, in any hotel. Spa is a complex of procedures aimed at improving the condition of human skin.
Thermal resorts are special natural areas in which cold or hot springs are located, enriched with useful trace elements and minerals. We offer you to get acquainted with the most popular resorts of this type.
Italy, Sirmione
This is one of the most famous thermal spas in the country, which is located between Venice and Milan. Terme di Sirmione is a huge and multifaceted structure, which is based on the most valuable sulfuric water with iodine-bromine salts. There are two thermal complexes: Terme Catullo and Terme Virgilio, three five-star, one four-star and three-star hotels, as well as the Aquaria thermal spa.
Thermal water treatment
Terme di Sirmione water refers to sulfuric with iodine-bromine salts: it contains a large amount of sulfur in the form of hydrogen sulfide, bromine, iodine and sodium. Its oligoelements - potassium and lithium, arsenic and iron, chromium and cadmium, selenium and zinc, nickel - are catalysts that activate chemical reactions.
Mud, bath and massage
Healing mud is one of the elements of thermal therapy, which is obtained by mixing water enriched with beneficial substances with clay. After a ripening period, which usually lasts about a year, the mud is enriched with mineral salts, which are absorbed during the treatment on the treated areas of the body.
Today it is one of the most visited resorts for which Italy is famous. Sirmione is known in the world for numerous and very effective procedures that are aimed at the prevention, active treatment and rehabilitation of diseases of the musculoskeletal system, problems with gynecology and respiratory organs.
Ischia
As a result of volcanic activity, the island of Ischia arose on the western coast of the country . Italy is known for many amazing resorts, but this small island needs to be described in more detail. It is surrounded by the waters of the Tyrrhenian Sea, located in the Gulf of Naples and belongs to Campania. The area is a little over forty-six square kilometers; it is only forty kilometers from Naples. The island is inhabited by sixty-two thousand people.
Ischia is a famous resort that amazes guests with amazing sandy beaches, greenery of olive and citrus groves, endless vineyards. However, the island's calling card is thermal springs. Local water contains many useful substances: bicarbonates, mineral salts, sulfates, etc. On this small island today there are more than three hundred sources that experts conditionally divide into two groups:
- hyperthermal, where the water temperature is above 80-100 ° C;
- thermal, water temperature in which is not higher than +40 ° C.
Every year, thousands of people from all over the world come to improve their health on the island of Ischia. Italy offers many resorts, but everyone who once visited Ischia returns here again and again. The healing properties of the springs attract many travelers here.
The main hospital of the island is the thermal center in Porto. This is a modern, newly built complex, in which treatment is carried out using hot water from natural sources. The three-story building of the complex combines many functions: treatment rooms, which are automatically fed with therapeutic mud, equipped with comfortable relaxation areas for visitors. Patients can visit the mud therapy, reginogenous and balneological departments; for those who wish to relax, there is a sauna located in the underground grotto.
The complex has a swimming pool with hydromassage function, as well as a massage room. Women can check their health in the gynecology department and restore beauty and youth in the beauty parlor.
It is impossible not to say about the world famous parks of Ischia. These are the territories where the thermal pools are located . In addition to visiting the healing pools, you can admire the unique nature (diverse conifers, flowering shrubs, exotic plants). The island has six well-equipped thermal parks:
- Negombo
- "Gardens of Poseidon";
- "Aphrodite-Apollo";
- Castiglione;
- "Tropical";
- Eden.
All parks have pools with thermal water, and for guests who have contraindications for swimming in medicinal waters, pools with ordinary water are provided. Each of them has a plate on which the temperature of the water is indicated.
At the entrance to the park, each visitor receives a memo in which there is a map and a description of this place of rest. If you plan to spend all day in the park, do not stock up on sandwiches. Located in the cafe will not let you stay hungry.
Abano terme
This thermal resort is suitable for admirers of a comfortable stay. Here grace, luxury and convenience are combined. The effectiveness of treatment at the resort of Abano Terme was appreciated by tourists from many countries of the world. Highly qualified employees are involved in the treatment and prevention of serious ailments:
- genitourinary system (prostatitis, gynecological inflammation);
- musculoskeletal system (osteochondrosis, arthrosis, rheumatism, gout, curvature of the spine);
- skin ailments (dermatitis, psoriasis, acne);
- neurological;
- varicose veins;
- metabolic disorders and excess weight.
The thermal resort Abano Terme offers immersion in mineral pools, which helps to eliminate toxins from the body, cleanses the skin, and normalizes metabolism. The therapeutic mud of this famous resort is the only one in the country that has Italian and European certificates of origin, which are called "mature thermal mud DOC".
Emilia Romagna
This is the region of Northern Italy, on the territory of which there are twenty-three thermal centers with the most diverse chemical composition of water: from completely fresh to hydrocarbonate, from sulfate to hydrogen sulfide. According to patients, she works with the body real miracles. People come here to get rid of rheumatism, arthritis, many diseases of the nervous system, muscle pain, infertility, chronic inflammation of gynecological organs.
The thermal resorts of Emily Romagna are indispensable for diseases of the gastrointestinal tract, diseases of the respiratory tract. In addition, in combination with mud and spa treatments, springs can help prolong beauty and youth. Thermal springs in Italy have completely different waters in terms of their effects on the human body.
On the territory of Emilia Romagna there are springs with iodine and bromine salts, sulfuric, sulphate-calcium-magnesium, soda-alkaline. All these substances are very important for the body.
Salsomaggiore terme
The resort is located an hour's drive from Bologna and Milan, on the outskirts of Parma, in the Emilia Romagna area. Terme Solsomaggiore has been known for its healing properties of springs since 1839. At that time, a practitioner Lorenzo Berzieri worked here, who drew attention to the beneficial effect of water from local springs on the course of a number of diseases. Thanks to him, water began to be used for healing.
The healing water of this resort can be divided into several types:
- thermal without iron;
- thermal (NaCl salt + iodine);
- without calcium.
In 1839, doctors learned that the concentration of salt in the springs was more than five times higher than their concentration in the Mediterranean Sea, more than three times higher than in the Dead Sea. Since then, the water from Terme Salsomaggiore began to be used in rehabilitation, cosmetic procedures, to increase vitality.
Mineral water Salsomaggiore belongs to the group of salt waters, which include bromine and iodine. It is extracted from artesian wells, from a depth of about 1200 meters. Its temperature is +16 ° C, density - 16 Baume, that is, it contains 150-176 grams of salts per liter. In addition, it contains iron salts, which color it in a reddish-rust color and significantly expand the therapeutic properties.
Piedmont
This region is also popular among tourists. The thermal resorts of Piedmont are well equipped, very comfortable for vacationers and famous for wellness treatments for patients of any age. Among them are beauty treatments and massages.
Since ancient times, Italy is known for its healing waters. The thermal spas here have a great location. Along with the healing properties of water, contemplation of magnificent landscapes in many cases contributes to the speedy recovery of patients.
In the center of the Val Bormida valley, surrounded by the hills of northern Monferrato, is the small town of Acqui Terme. Its symbol is the marble boiling fountain. This name was given to him by local residents, because very hot water (+75 ° C) beats from it. The town of Acqui Terme became a thermal resort in the II century and still has not lost its popularity.
Water from the fountain and lake of the ancient term helps people suffering from diseases of the musculoskeletal system. For those who are used to outdoor activities, the resort has gyms, tennis courts and swimming pools. Those who want to improve and rejuvenate the skin can visit cosmetology centers equipped with modern equipment and offering numerous procedures for the body and face. Water of local sources is sulfuric iodide-bromine, salty.
Terme di Comano
The resort is conveniently located a little west of Trento, in the picturesque Val Guidicare Valley. Thermal springs in these places bring water to the surface at a temperature of +27 ° C, they are saturated with magnesium and calcium bicarbonates, and therefore are successfully used to treat many serious skin diseases (psoriasis, allergic reactions, dermatitis, including chronic ones).
The treatment uses baths, aerosols, inhalations, hydromassages and irrigation. Correction and aesthetic departments have been working at this resort for several years, where patients are offered various procedures, including laser correction. This resort has an excellent hotel with eighty rooms with an adjoining resort park with an area of about fourteen hectares.
Levico terme
The Italian town of Levico became a resort in the 19th century. Its only arsenic-glandular sources in the country are famous for their medicinal properties, which are recognized by international medicine. The town is located by the lake of the same name, which in its shape resembles a fjord. It is possible to swim in a boat, swim, fish. In its environs, at an altitude of one and a half thousand meters, the area of Vetriolo is located, which is surrounded by dense spruce groves.
Thermal water here flows from rocky grottoes. The two main sources are located near Vetriolo, which is located above the city of Levico, on Mount Fronte. Their waters are saturated with iron and arsenic, as well as such useful elements as phosphorus, sulfur, manganese, copper, cobalt, zinc and nickel. The mineral waters of this resort are used in the treatment of stressful conditions, diseases of the musculoskeletal system, rheumatism, pathologies of the respiratory tract, skin, thyroid gland and a number of gynecological diseases.
The resort offers various types of procedures: inhalations, baths, aerosols, irrigation, massages and hydromassages, mud wraps, aesthetic procedures. In addition, there are thermal centers in Levico Terme, a new balneological center in Vetriolo and a 4-star hotel located in Rongno.
Levico Terme offers guests thermal relaxation in a warm mild climate, walks in the mountains, where you can see old castles, do various sports. And in the very center of the city you can visit the workshops of local craftsmen and evaluate the results of their work.
Battalia terme
If you suffer from kidney disease and you are recommended treatment in the waters, then you can not find a better place of rest than Italy. The thermal spas of this country give amazing results in the treatment of the genitourinary system. One of them is especially known for his successes in the fight against these ailments. We are talking about Terme Batalha - a magnificent mud spa resort located near the Euganean hills, fifteen kilometers from Padua.
The water in this resort is salty, hot (+84.5 ° C), bromine-iodine-containing. It is most often used for mud wraps, which are very effective in the treatment of diseases of the genitourinary system, osteoporosis, inflammatory, respiratory, skin, gynecological, diseases, metabolic disorders, rheumatism. In addition to mud therapy, bathing in thermal water, inhalations, healing caves, hydromassages and irrigation are offered.
Bormio
A comprehensive Italian resort where you can combine skiing and visiting mineral springs, next to which spa centers are equipped.
The Bormio baths are located in the north of the country, almost on the border with neighboring Switzerland. The skiing part of the resort is represented by the large Alta Valtellina region with a ski pass, which allows skiing on tracks with a length of more than one hundred and twenty kilometers. But the main feature of this resort is the ability to combine skiing with treatment in one of the three spa complexes that use sources of thermal waters, or with relaxation.
There are nine sources in total. They originate in the depths of the Southern Alps, more precisely in basaltic rocks, where they are saturated with useful substances that wonderfully affect the skin - it becomes elastic, smooth and velvety.
Bormio has a huge spa complex, which offers many different treatments. After skiing, they are especially helpful and enjoyable. You can visit the complex in the evenings, after daytime sports and exciting walks in the surroundings.
Looking at the photos posted in the article, you can appreciate how beautiful Italy is. Of course, we have not presented all the thermal resorts to you. Nevertheless, we hope that you can choose the most suitable option for yourself.