Activity holidays are very much in vogue these days, but what if it is the landscape that is full of activity rather than the people on holiday? I am talking about amazing regions of geothermal phenomena where the unexpected happens; from mysteriously hot water bubbling up from deep underground, to thundering eruptions from volcanoes.
Italy has a long tradition of using its thermal sources, going back to Roman times and beyond. Throughout the country you can find such areas which these days specialize in different kinds of treatment and cures as well as simple pampering.
Because of this tradition, until as recently as the late fifties, Italian workers used to have a one-week holiday or “cure” every year when they would stay at a thermal establishment courtesy of their national health service, INPS (National Insurance for Social Security). Here, they would enjoy treatment in lovely surroundings, usually with shady parks to stroll in after a morning’s treatment. One such establishment was in the Euganean Hills southwest of Venice, an area of extinct volcanoes where you can find hot water, steam and mud. In fact, the loyal visitors who returned year after year pronounced it to be “the best mud in Italy.”
For readers who are not familiar with the word Terme, it means a spa town in an area of geothermal activity. You will always see the word following the place name if it has natural hot springs, or mud or steam. In the Colli Euganee, with all three, there are the spa towns of Abano Terme, perhaps the most stylish and popular with Germans, Montegrotto Terme, and Galzignano Terme. There is also Battaglia Terme, now an almost forgotten spa yet once the most important in the area. At the end of its grand but now neglected park you can still find the fascist era building which housed 300 workers at-a-time for their annual cure/holiday.
The ancient hot lakes in these hills (such as Lake Costa near Arqua Petrarca, home of the 14th century poet) provide clay which is transported to hotels in the spa centers and infused with thermal water in holding tanks for 3 months. The microalgae produce mud with strong anti-inflammatory properties, and this maturing process takes place as the naturally hot water bubbles up through the clay to produce D.O.C. Mature Thermal Mud. The effect on the body is comparable with certain drugs but free from side-effects.
A cure can be covering the whole body in mud or treating an affected area. You always need a prescription before the treatment as the mud is very hot and can be a shock to the system. Most hotels have ground floor or basement areas where there are individual cubicles where …….