Around the splendind drinking galleries of Terme Tetuccio one can examine the routine that visitors to the spa undertake for their internal health. Part of the ritual is to drink the waters from the prescribed source – there are 4 springs, each with its own peculiar therapeutic characteristics -and to take some gentle exercise in the vicinity of the spa.
Visitors to Montecatini Terme can also take the funicular railway to the spectacular hilltop old town of Montecatini Alto, but no visit is complete without a tour of the star-studded pavements, commemorating legendary visitors especially the Italian and Hollywood film stars and directors, who made Montecatini fashionable in the 50s and 60s.
Today Montecatini Terme is a great destination for young people, who enjoy the fine shopping, good food (don’t miss the Montecatini wafers – just delicious!) and lively night-life, as well as the stunning landscapes of the Tuscany.
Montecatini Terme is one of the eleven Great Spa Towns of Europe, inscribed on the World Heritage List since 2021.
It’s thought that the Romans knew about Montecatini’s saline waters and their benefits, but it wasn’t’ until the 15th century that we have reliable information abou them, thanks to the studies of the famous physician Ugolino Simoni, founder of Italian hydrology.
In the 18th century, the Grand Duke of Tuscany, Pietro Leopoldo, planned the first works for the canalization of the spring waters and the building of the spas for thermal treatments.
By the beginning of the 19th century, when scientists started to accumulate knowledge about the waters, there were several buildings dedicated to thermal treatments, supported by new hotels, tourist facilities, the casino and other civic buildings. Thousands of visitors flocked to Montecatini Terme including the celebrities of the day, such as composers Verdi and Puccini, who composed part of his great opera La Boheme here.
Montecatini’s waters belong to the salt-sulphated water type, being mostly constituted by sodium and magnesium sulphates and chlorides. They also contain iodine, bromine, lithium, calcium, potassium, silicon, phosphates and sulphur.
These slightly saline waters, which have three different strengths, provide varying stimulating effects on the intestines, stomach and liver, and are therefore used to treat a number of internal disorders:cholesterol metabolic disorders, hypo-secretive chronic gastritis and functional dyspepsia, irritable colon. Leopoldina Spring has the strongest waters (fixed residue 21 g / l), and is followed by the Regina Spring (fixed residue 17-18 g /l), Rinfresco e Tettuccio (fixed residue 4.9-7.5 g/l )
The thermal waters is used mainly in drinking cures, but also in inhalations (Leopoldina), mud treatments and thermal showers (Leopoldina and Rinfresco). The Montecatini spa offers a wide range of spa treatments to meet every need of relaxation, wellness and beauty such as traditional Western and Eastern massages, or specific treatments for face, neck and body. They also offer opportunities to enhance physical activity in the free green parks and gardens of the Baths.