Water
and Cities
Since the dawn of the age of humanity, man has sought hot water to care for himself. The first accounts of thermal history, that is to say the use of hot water for medical purposes, dates back to 3 000 BC in France as much as in Italy, Greece, Egypt, and so on. Each of the thermal spa towns of the EHTTA network has become hallowed by history. Celts, Gauls and Romans all sampled the health benefits of the warters. However, Roman occupation led to a proliferation of Thermal Baths being built right across the whole expanse of the Roman Empire. After a long period of neglect in the Middle Ages, thermal activity rose again out of its adhes in the 16th century. In 1604, upon command of Henri IV of France, the first Charte des Eaux Minérales was created, whilst the renown of Spa reached England thanks to Gilbert Lymborth’s work “Des fontaines acides de la forêt d’Ardenne et principalement de celles qui se trouvent à Spa” and, shortly before this text was published, the visit of Henry VIII’s doctor and, finally, Charles II’s journey to the city a century later. As the centuries and wars came and went, the thermal spa towns modernised to accommodate soldiers who came to treat their injuries. In the 19th century, with the advent of the iron route, spa towns multiplied and they established their specifications. Their hospitality establishments today range from archaeological sites to hammmams, from open-air pools to the most modern of thermo-recreation centres, from palaces swathed in Art Nouveau or Art Deco to audacious architectural creations which make use of new materials. In 1994, Bernard Toulier wrote: “These holiday destinations are today towns with a strong heritage identity. They were conceived as ideal towns for repairing the ravages of industrial life, healing sick bodies and providing them with the benefits of comfort and well-being (…) This heritage is proof of their modernity and transmitting it their only chance of surviving.