Balneological Use of Thermal Waters

Abstract

People have used geothermal water and mineral waters for bathing and their health for many thousand of years. Balneology, the practice of using natural mineral water for the treatment and cure of disease, also has a long history. Based on archeological finds in Asia, mineral water has been used for bathing since the Bronze Age, about 5000 years ago. Many hot springs have been used in connection with religious rites in Egypt and by the Jews of the Middle East. The Greeks, Turks and Romans were famous for their spa development and use from Persia to England. The word “spa” traces its origin to a town near Liège in southern Belgium near the German border. Here a spring of iron-bearing water was used by an iron master in 1326 to cure his ailments. He founded a health resort at the spring called Espa (meaning fountain in the Walloon language). Espa became so popular that the word know in English as spa became the common designation for similar health resorts around the world (Lund, 1996). Great spas have a long history,