“European Route of Thermal Heritage and Thermal Towns”

1 European Route of thermal herita ge and thermal towns “European Route of thermal heritage and thermal towns” Introduced by E.H.T.T.A. European Historical Thermal Town Association February 2010 Domain: Tourism, Culture, Health and Well-being General theme: Valorization of thermal cultural heritage in Europe; revitalization of the historical tradition of European thermal cities; promotion of the European spa towns’ heritage. Promotion of European spa culture that brings with it different concepts: welfare, health, tradition. Today the European spa towns are investing to meet the growing demand for well-being that comes from the market, particularly from age groups that since nowadays have never been involved in traditional spas. Sub-theme: Heritage , Local tourism, Sport and leisure time. Health and wellness of European citizens. (Date of certification:) PART I DESCRIPTION TOWARDS A EUROPEAN SPA TOWN CULTURAL ROUTE Baden-Baden, Bath, Budapest, Karlovy Vary, Spa, Vichy are only a few big names of European spa towns, and they are indeed synonymous with baths. But Europe is home to thousands of spa towns that we are aiming to promote through the Cultural Route along with their spa heritage, to show their unique urban personalities, their different styles of architecture – traits that distinguish the spa town experience of Spa or Dax or Vals from that of Wiesbaden or Piestany or Velingrad; and also to show what they have in common: a spa culture that, for all of its variety and different local flavours, can truly be called European. The proposed route appropriately begins where European spa culture itself was born, in Greece. From there, it crosses the countries and cultures of seven geographic and cultural areas: Southern and Eastern Europe (Greece, Romania, Bulgaria, Hungary, Slovakia, and Czech Republic), Central Europe (Slovenia, Austria, Germany, and Switzerland), Italy, Iberia, Western Europe (France, Luxembourg, and Belgium), the United Kingdom and Scandinavia. Not less significant are the aspects related to the development of local and regional tourism as Spa town are often situated in peripheral or mountainous regions and the consideration that their economic weigh is growing every year as, today, spa tourism represents 10 % of total European tourism that is an increasing sector of European economy. Finally thermal water and the healthy life style that is part of the “culture of thermalism”, is the heart of the promotion of well being and health of European citizens, influenced by a stressful society, spa towns are a way of pampering oneself. 2 European Route of thermal herita ge and thermal towns We may conclude that, if the spa towns do not presently act as a “system”, then they consist of a system in waiting: already on the rebound from a sleepy 20th century, they need protection, reinvigoration and development, which require Europe-wide coordination, they need to be cherished, set apart and rediscovered by means, for example, of a European cultural route. OBJECTIVES AND AIMS OF THE THERMAL ROUTE NETWORK The spa town Cultural-route will be a permanent European network of towns that boast a recognized spa tradition and a rich heritage and that exploit spa and mineral waters, in order to enhance their history and safeguard and protect their cultural heritage as spa towns, while defining creative and innovative policies of promotion and enhancement. Its main objectives are: − to show the towns’ unique urban personalities and also to show what they have in common: a spa culture that for all its variety and variants and different local flavors can truly be called European. − to encourage the integrated development of spa towns and safeguard their cultural and architectural heritage, by exchanging experiences and good practices at European level; − to promote the network in close collaboration with European institutions and with the support of European programmes; − to encourage the development of researches, analyses, studies and statistics in the spa sector, especially concerning the history, and artistic, and cultural heritage; − to develop a new strategy for thermal sector which will have to be considered in the future one of the most promising sector for its cultural and touristic potential, contributing to the economy of culture and in order to fulfil the objective of the Lisbon strategy, making the EU “the most competitive and dynamic knowledge-based economy in the world, capable of sustainable economic growth with more and better jobs and greater social cohesion”. HISTORICAL AND CULTURAL CONTEXT The origins of European thermalism In Ancient Greece, hot spring water was ritualised as sacred and used as a basic medicine. Bathing became therapeutic in the 3rd century BC. The rise of the Romans popularised thermal practices first in Greece, then in all of Europe. The Greeks exported their practices to the Italian peninsula. Rome took it over in the 2nd century BC, but its Greek stamp remained. Springs abounded in central Italy, and as 4th century monuments around them attest, the practice of thermalism. They created a central place for water in public life and also a distinction between soft water and “medical water”, classifying the latter according to composition and the ailments they treated. The Romans spread out on the continent and brought their thermal practices with them, hunting for springs and “Romanising” them, transforming them into functional replicas of baths back on the peninsula. Ruins and existing architecture and practice reveal the glorious Roman past of European spa towns. Middle Age thermalism: the Church and Islam After the fall of Rome European thermalism went into hibernation. Christianity ascribed to the practice of thermalism a kind of decadent immorality, condemning nudity and common bathing between the sexes. Meanwhile, the Moors invaded the Iberian Peninsula in the 7th century and brought with them Islam’s emphasis on cleanliness and the purifying nature of water, but they remained confined to Iberia, and later to Andalusia. Something changed with the arrival of the Ottoman Turks. From the 15th to 18th centuries the Ottomans ruled over an immense chunk of Europe and water was sacred to them, they were Muslims too and possessed a rich heritage of thermal steam bathing and they influenced the whole of Europe. But beyond Iberia and the Ottomans, the culture of public bathing in Europe suffered throughout the Middle Ages. The puritanical Church continued its chastisements of the immorality of public bathing, and the Reformation’s moralising didn’t help, while epidemics of disease, including the Black Death, 3 European Route of thermal herita ge and thermal towns discouraged the practice owing to fears of contagion. Overall, thermalism began its decline in the 4th century and didn’t truly re-emerge until the 18th century. No more religion: the golden age of thermalism Fortunately, the Renaissance renewed interest in the classical world. Henry IV of France in 1607 issued the first ever Charter of Mineral Waters and the rediscovery of Roman baths across Europe reinvigorated the ancient practice of thermalism. Bathing in natural springs experienced its own renaissance, first at the royal level with a certain “royal thermalism,” wherein kings and queens bathed in spring waters to medicinally prevent sterility and cultivate fertility. 20th century thermalism: from Belle Epoque to bust The century started out great: spa towns continued to flourish during the Belle Epoque. Even the First World War, though it put a momentary stop to pleasure-seeking, didn’t permanently mar thermalism’s gains on the continent. During the war wounded soldiers, such as the Kaiser’s army bivouacking at Spa, Belgium, salved their wounds in spring waters. After the war, thermalism soothed a Europe that wanted to forget the war’s horrors. 21st century thermalism: on the rebound So the progression of European thermalism’s character is clear: from quasi-religious and therapeutic (Antiquity) to largely medicinal and forgotten (Middle Ages, excepting the Moors and the Ottomans, whose thermalism was therapeutic and socially dynamic) to touristic (The Golden Age) and back to medicinal and forgotten (mid-20th century). Now, perhaps on the brink of undergoing yet another transformation, it’s returning once again to the realm of tourism. “Health tourism” is growing. Big-city hotels, single-establishment spas or “health resorts” might have no connection to natural thermal springs or to the medical establishment, but connections to either are a draw. Because health tourism so often involves bathing in water or steam, using mineral water and natural springs can draw clients. Spa towns are being promoted, enhanced and exploited anew. Hydrotherapy in the form of preventive, curative and alternative treatments abounds in Europe. Thermalism instilled the values of healing, therapy and healthy, disciplined living, eating right, getting in touch with one’s body. It created a culture, and to a degree inspired the arts. 4 European Route of thermal herita ge and thermal towns PART II BUILDING THE NETWORK STATE OF ADVANCEMENT To understand the creation process of the proposed route, it is first of all necessary to refer to the recent past. The most part of the cities taking part to the network were involved in the Project “Thermae Europae” presented by the City of Karlovy Vary on the program Culture 2000, which ended in September 2009. It has created a network consisting of the oldest spa in Europe, involving 11 countries and 15 cities and entities.

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