Is Bath a spa town?
In 2021, Bath received its second UNESCO World Heritage inscription, becoming part of a group of 11 spa towns across seven countries that were listed by UNESCO as the Great Spas of Europe. The 11 Great Spa Towns of Europe are Bath, Baden bei Wien (Austria), Spa (Belgium), Vichy (France), Baden-Baden, Bad Ems and Bad Kissingen (Germany), Montecatini Terme (Italy), and Karlovy Vary, Mariánské Lázně and Františkovy Lázně (Czech Republic).
Why is a town called spa?
The term spa is used for towns or resorts offering hydrotherapy, which can include cold water or mineral water treatments and geothermal baths, and comes from the Belgian town Spa. The origins of spa – ‘Spa’ is an acronym of the Latin phrase ‘Salus per Aquam’, meaning ‘health from water’. Spa’ is named after the Belgian village, Spa, where hot mineral springs were used by Roman soldiers to treat aching muscles and wounds from a battle.Spa (French pronunciation: [spa]; Walloon: Spå) is a municipality and city of Wallonia in the province of Liège, Belgium, whose name became an eponym for mineral baths with supposed curative properties.
What was the original British spa town?
Bath, Somerset The Romans, however, had grander plans and went on to build a huge bathing complex, all fed by that same hot spring. Much later, in the 18 th century, King George III was the power behind Bath’s eventual transformation into England’s most popular spa town. The Romans founded the original baths in Bath around 70 AD, and over time it became a fashionable spa town for the wealthy and influential.