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Mineral spas are spa resorts developed around naturally occurring mineral springs. Like seaside resorts, they are mainly used recreationally although they also figured prominently in prescientific medicine.
Spas were used for millennia for their purported healing or healthful benefits to those wealthy or close enough to partake of their waters. This was called a mineral cure and gave let to phrases such as taking a cure and taking the waters. There has always been a mixture of recreational and medicinal connotations involved, from rest and relaxation, stress relief, and convalescence to more specific notions such as humorism. These phrases are sometimes used as a euphemism for one trying to kick a drug dependency.
In many cases, mineral spas were located in mountainous locales that gave an additional excuse to leave the drudgery of a hot house in warm weather during summer's onset and were seasonally populated by the well-to-do. They eventually became early vacation spots with the counter-Victorian work ethic 'rationale' of health as an excuse to have fun and mix with one's peers in recreation.
Subsequently, many became the seed stock for today's modern vacation resorts. Locations such as Steamboat Springs, Vail, St Moritz, Mineral Wells first became popular for the questionable health benefits of mineral or soda-water soaks, ingestion, and clean outs during the hey-day of patent medicines and backward medical knowledge. United States President Franklin Delano Roosevelt suffered a paralytic illness, and regularly visited Warm Springs and other hot springs for restorative soaks. While his cousin Theodore Roosevelt was known as a physically active and healthy person, he had asthma and used physical activity as well as occasional visits to mineral spas as attempts to address his asthma. [1]
The name "spa" comes from the Belgian town Spa.
As the Victoria era ended, the influences of the industrial revolution created more and more varied members of the upper middle class. The concepts of vacationing, tourism, and travel became less the property of the old monied classes and more shared by an increasing population base of those who could afford holiday trips, like the rich.
Such adventures had much allure before any audio-visual entertainment outside a live orchestra. Thus, the spas began attracting more local patrons and those from afar when the burgeoning numbers could take advantage of the automobile and the now extensive railways throughout most of Europe and the United States.
The spa towns already had infrastructure and attractions to assuage such desires, and the modern tourist trip began to take its familiar form. Other technologies came into play (skis, ski boats, etc.)
A spa town is a resort town based on a mineral spa. Patrons visit spas to "take the waters" for their purported health benefits.
Trenčianske Teplice is a health resort and small spa town in western Slovakia, in the valley of the river Teplička, at the foothills of the Strážovské vrchy mountains, a few kilometres away from the city of Trenčín.
Yessentuki is a city in Stavropol Krai, Russia, located in the shadow of Mount Elbrus at the base of the Caucasus Mountains. The city serves as a railway station in the Mineralnye Vody—Kislovodsk branch, and is located 43 kilometers (27 mi) southwest of Mineralnye Vody and 17 kilometers (11 mi) west of Pyatigorsk. It is considered the cultural capital of Russia's Greek population and close to ten percent of its population is of Greek descent. Population: 119,658 (2021 Census); 100,996 (2010 Census); 81,758 (2002 Census); 85,082 (1989 Census).
Pyatigorsk is a city in Stavropol Krai, Russia located on the Podkumok River, about 20 kilometers (12 mi) from the town of Mineralnye Vody, which has an international airport, and about 45 kilometers (28 mi) from Kislovodsk. Since January 19, 2010, it has been the administrative center of the North Caucasian Federal District of Russia. Population: 142,511 (2010 Census); 140,559 (2002 Census); 129,499 (1989 Census).
A spa is a location where mineral-rich spring water is used to give medicinal baths. Spa towns or spa resorts typically offer various health treatments, which are also known as balneotherapy. The belief in the curative powers of mineral waters goes back to prehistoric times. Such practices have been popular worldwide, but are especially widespread in Europe and Japan. Day spas and medspas are also quite popular, and offer various personal care treatments.
Steamboat Springs is a small volcanic field of rhyolitic lava domes and flows in western Nevada, located south of Reno. There is extensive geothermal activity in the area, including numerous hot springs, steam vents, and fumaroles. The residential portions of this area, located mostly east of Steamboat Creek and south of modern-day SR 341, are now known simply as Steamboat.
A mud bath is a therapeutic spa treatment that involves soaking in a bath of warm mud, often in a natural hot spring or geothermal pool. Mud baths have been used for centuries as a way to promote health and relaxation, and are still popular today in many parts of the world.
Berkeley Springs State Park is situated in the center of Berkeley Springs, West Virginia, USA. The centerpiece of the Park is its historic mineral spa. These waters were celebrated for their medicinal or restorative powers and were generally taken internally for digestive disorders, or bathed in for stress relief. Native peoples visited these springs as did George Washington. Berkeley Springs is the only state-run spa in the United States and is operated by the West Virginia Division of Natural Resources.
Zheleznovodsk is a town in Stavropol Krai, Russia. Population: 24,433 (2010 Census); 25,135 (2002 Census); 28,460 (1989 Census).
A destination spa or health resort is a resort centered on a spa, such as a mineral spa. Historically, many such spas were developed at the location of natural hot springs or mineral springs. In the era before modern biochemistry and pharmacotherapy, "taking the waters" was often believed to have great medicinal powers. Even without such mystic powers, the stress relief and health education of spas also often has some degree of positive effect on health. Destination spas offer day spa facilities, but what sets them apart is that they also offer hotel facilities so that people can stay multiple nights.
Tskaltubo is a spa resort in west-central Georgia. It is the main town of the Tsqaltubo Municipality of the Imereti province. It is known for its radon-carbonate mineral springs, whose natural temperature of 33–35 °C (91–95 °F) enables the water to be used without preliminary heating.
Dolna Banya, also Dolna Banja or Dolna Bania is a town located in Sofia Province in southwestern Bulgaria. 75 km from Sofia and Plovdiv, Dolna Banya is located in the Kostenets–Dolna Banya Valley by the north-eastern slopes of the Rila Mountains, 18 and 30 km respectively from the ski resorts of Borovets and Samokov. Dolna Banya is a resort town, known for its hot mineral waters, with temperatures of 56.3 C. The area surrounding the town is largely agricultural, and there are skiing and hiking trails in the nearby mountains.
The Warm Springs Pools are two spa structures near Warm Springs, Virginia. The name was changed in the 20th century from "Warm Spring Pools" to "Jefferson Pools" before being returned to its original name in 2021. The spa is part of The Homestead, a resort hotel in nearby Hot Springs.
Ovčar Banja is a village and a spa located in the city of Čačak, Serbia. Located near the Ovčar-Kablar Gorge in the valley of the West Morava, it is known as the "Serbian Mount Athos" because of the numerous monasteries situated in this area. As of 2011 census, it has a population of 122 inhabitants.
Schumer Springs is an unincorporated community in southern Cinque Hommes Township in Perry County, Missouri, United States.
The Buxton Baths using natural thermal spring water are in Buxton, Derbyshire, England. The baths date back to Roman times and were the basis for developing Buxton as a Georgian and Victorian spa town. The present buildings of the Thermal Baths and the Natural Mineral Baths were opened in the 1850s. They are positioned either side of the Buxton Crescent at the foot of The Slopes in the town's Central Conservation Area. They are both Grade II listed buildings designed by Henry Currey, architect for the 7th Duke of Devonshire.