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Pamper
yourself this Christmas!
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When
in Rome do as the (Ancient) Romans did - spoil yourself
in one of Italy's many thermal baths
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 Like
to do something different this Christmas or New
Year? We've got just the answer for you. Why don't
you pamper yourself over the festive season with
a break in one of Italy's many thermal baths? Join
us in our journey through the intriguing world of
spas - you may find just the place for you.
We can't talk about thermal baths without talking
about the Ancient Romans, who adopted the
Greek tradition of bathing and made it their own.
Roman baths were, for the most part, free or extremely
cheap and opened from noon until dusk, with some
baths opening by torchlight in the evening. Roman
baths were seen as both a social and a sports-cum-beauty
centre. The baths were equivalent to modern gyms
and underlined the Roman motto "mens sana in
corpore sano" (A healthy mind in a healthy
body). Most bathing establishments used the
same general plan: an exercise area, a steam room,
a hot room and a cold room as well as facilities
for massaging, rubbing, oiling and anointing the
body plus a room where both men and women had their
excess body hair removed.Nowadays thermal baths
are built around an existing hot spring (in Roman
times the water was channelled and brought great
distances by aqueducts). They offer a wide array
of services and treatments though they do tend to
be costly. Allow yourself to be pampered like the
Ancient Roman senators as you wallow in a mud bath
or forget time in a relaxing massage.
Staying at home this Christmas? You can always treat
yourselves to a sauna in one of your local swimming
pools or gyms. Just close your eyes and dream of
Ancient Rome. . .There's a huge choice of thermal
baths in Italy, each one with its own special offer
for the Christmas period. Classics include
Montecatini
Terme, l’Isola
di Ischia with its magnificent sea views and
its lush vegetation. Not to forget Chianciano
Terme (a small but popular resort in Tuscany),
Abano
and the picturesque Terme
dei Papi in Viterbo. No article on Italy's
thermal baths would be complete without mentioning
Bagno
Vignoni in Tuscany which still uses the original
Mediaeval structure and boasts a big bath dating
from the 13th Century with a natural
spring with water reaching the surface at an impressive
52°C. Bagni Vignoni has another claim to fame as
the location for Nikita Michalkov's masterpiece
"Nostalghia".
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DARIO
MORGANTE |
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Dec.
18th, 2001
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THE SURVIVOR'S 
