UNESCO World Heritage Site | |
---|---|
Location | Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Italy, United Kingdom |
Includes | Eleven spa towns in Europe |
Criteria | Cultural: (ii)(iii) |
Reference | 1613 |
Inscription | 2021 (44th Session) |
Area | 7,014 ha (17,330 acres) |
Buffer zone | 11,319 ha (27,970 acres) |
The Great Spa Towns of Europe is a transnational World Heritage Site consisting of a selection of 11 spa towns across seven European countries. They were developed around natural mineral water springs. [1] [2] From the early 18th century to the 1930s, Western Europe experienced an increase in spa and bathing culture, leading to the construction of elaborate bath houses. [1] These would often include gardens, casinos, theatres, and villas surrounding the springs and the bath houses. [1] [3]
The city of Bath was originally inscribed on UNESCO's World Heritage List in 1987. [4]
The efforts to get the Great Spas of Europe onto the World Heritage List began in 2012, and the nomination was submitted in 2019. [5] On 24 July 2021, the Great Spas of Europe was officially inscribed on the World Heritage List. [2]
Town | Country | ID [6] | Picture |
---|---|---|---|
Baden bei Wien | Austria | 1613-001 | |
Spa | Belgium | 1613-002 | |
Františkovy Lázně | Czech Republic | 1613-003 | |
Karlovy Vary | Czech Republic | 1613-004 | |
Mariánské Lázně | Czech Republic | 1613-005 | |
Vichy | France | 1613-006 | |
Bad Ems | Germany | 1613-007 | |
Baden-Baden | Germany | 1613-008 | |
Bad Kissingen | Germany | 1613-009 | |
Montecatini Terme | Italy | 1613-010 | |
Bath | United Kingdom | 1613-011 |
Bath is a city and unparished area in the Bath and North East Somerset unitary area in the ceremonial county of Somerset, England, known for and named after its Roman-built baths. At the 2021 Census, the population was 101,557. Bath is in the valley of the River Avon, 97 miles (156 km) west of London and 11 miles (18 km) southeast of Bristol. The city became a World Heritage Site in 1987, and was later added to the transnational World Heritage Site known as the "Great Spa Towns of Europe" in 2021. Bath is also the largest city and settlement in Somerset.
A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, scientific or other forms of significance. The sites are judged to contain "cultural and natural heritage around the world considered to be of outstanding value to humanity".
Spa is a city and municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Liège, Belgium, whose name became an eponym for mineral baths with supposed curative properties. It is situated in a valley in the Ardennes mountains 35 km (22 mi) south-east of Liège and 45 km (28 mi) south-west of Aachen. In 2006, Spa had a population of 10,543 and an area of 39.85 km2 (15.39 sq mi), giving a population density of 265/km2 (690/sq mi).
Bad Ems is a town in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is the administrative seat of the Rhein-Lahn rural district and is well known as a spa on the river Lahn. Bad Ems was the seat of Bad Ems collective municipality, which has been merged into the Bad Ems-Nassau collective municipality. The town has around 9,000 inhabitants.