Getting Healthy and Beautiful the Italian Way
Jumat, 11 Januari 2013
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The Romans may not have pioneered the spa-- you can get arguments for it on both sides -- but they certainly brought it to what you could only call a spa art from. In fact, they did not use the word spa.
Balnea or the more popular thermae were the words the ancient Romans used for the buildings housing their public baths.
Note these were not private baths. These were the public, the very public, thermae.
Let us take the average Roman bath of a well-to-do citizen. The bather would be accompanied by one of two slaves and you would strip naked. Then there would be exercise -- running, mild weight-lifting, wrestling, and swimming.
After exercising, servants covered their masters in oil and scraped it off with a strigil (a scraper made of wood or bone) which cleaned off the dirt. This was mainly used because soap was not widely available and was very expensive. (They still do this scraping in parts of Turkey and the muck that comes off your skin is astounding in its quantity.)
If you were a member of the aristocracy you had a Roman bath-house inyour private villa or town houses. The system was the same. The difference was privacy.
A bath was built around three principal rooms: the caldarium (hotbath), the tepidarium (warm bath) and the frigidarium (a freezing cold bath). Some thermae also featured steam baths: the sudatorium, a moist steam bath, and the laconicum, a dry steam bath much like a modern sauna. In the writer's time such a spa existed in St James, London, not only with all the attributes but with everything labelled in Latin. To leap from the calidarium into the frigidarium, an ice cold bath. was not an experience everyone enjoyed. Most customers did not do it twice.
Typically, in Roman Italy there was an adjoining, smaller set of baths assigned to the women. The system was almost identical to the men's baths but the waters were very slightly cooler.
These baths were the social center of social life for Romans. There appears to have been little class distinction and you could have a spa but you could also eat, rink, shop or just socialize.
This great tradition of making the spa, the bath, a center of Italian life has continued to this day. Impossible to say with complete accuracy that there are more spas per head of population in Italy than in any other country in the world. But it would be a reasonable assumption.
Its most modern thermal spas there are beauty treatments, massages and leisure activities. In the old Roman tradition you can also dine there.
This tradition of baths and spas as a focal point of at least part of your life is far from dying away. Indeed, it is gaining in popularity. The use of thermal waters to help cure what ails you have certainly been around in the Mediterranean region, and specifically in Italy, since ancient times as can be seen from archaeological finds, literary and scientific writings and numerous epigraphs.
These treatments have, for the most part, been left unaltered over twenty-four centuries through various historical periods apart from the introduction of advanced technology which has resulted in an innovative approach in using thermal waters for therapeutic purposes and new treatments which are said to be more effective.
The advantages of these treatments are not only linked to the waters'curative properties but also to the beauty and natural attractions that are a general characteristic of Italian spas. The idea of treatment also being a means of recovering energy and physical well-being is quite rightly connected to the idea of a holiday resort and intelligent use of leisure time.
Thus the ancient tradition of thermal waters has been modernized and brought up to date and today more than ever the spa is used to refresh, enliven and, sometimes, cure. Although in truth quite often the delights of the local cuisine balances out the therapeutic effects of the spa.
It does not matter where you travel in Italy from Sicily in the deep south to the far north until you are on the borders of Switzerland, there is always some sort of spa treatment available for this is ageologically active part of Europe and the spas, in a sense, are just taking what nature provides.
Many of these spa towns offer deluxe and standard hotel accommodation with their own unique setting of thermal provisions. In-house doctors and professionally trained staff oversee the treatments that include indoor and outdoor thermal pools.
This has made Italy a prime target for what might be called "healthcare tourism".
Since the last century hotels with extensive facilities have grown up around spas, which have established international reputations. Abano, Salsomaggiore, Chianciano, Montecatini, Fiuggi and Ischia are just a few of the names which have become famous for their therapeutic spas. At the same time Italian spa resorts' proximity to great centers of art means they are perfect bases for cultural excursions.
In North Italy many spas have sprung up on the Euganei Hills in Veneto - volcanic highlands where numerous hot springs gush out of the ground. The main form of treatment in this area is mud therapy recommended for assorted ailments.
In the city of Abano, the legends tell us that Phaeton, son of the Sungod, fell to the ground there with his chariot in flames. His fall caused waters to spring forth which were able to relieve fatigue and pain. You do not have to believe the legends to take advantage of the spas that have resulted.
Moving further south, there is a series of thermal resorts in Emilia-Romagna on the foothills of the Apennines. Tuscany is another Italian region with a high concentration of spas whose waters were already in use in ancient times and are still popular today. It is also, in the season, sadly, full of tourists so make sure you book well ahead. One piece of advice would be to avoid the holiday season during which Tuscany can get uncomfortably crowded.
In southern Italy the numerous spas forming an arc around the Gulf of Naples are extremely important. This is one of the most active volcanic zones in Italy which is why you get Mount Etna. If you want living testimony of the effectiveness of the spas of that area look at Sophia Loren who lives in Naples, is well over 70 plus years of age and looks somewhere around 40. And very, very beautiful with it. She, of course, takes a regular spa treatment.
If we list all of the spas in Italy we could easily fill any magazine. So a selected few:
Campania Ischia Campania
The Island is home to natural hot springs, geysers and fumaroles with very popular spa centers located in Cavascura, Sant'Angelo and Barano.You can have mud treatments, mineral water baths and vapor inhalation therapies. Amazingly, you can have a spa in Ischia's caves, which are naturally heated by volcanic activity and range from something like a dry sauna to a humid Turkish bath.
Emilia Romagna Bagno, southeast of Bologna this small town has springs which supply the spa facilities at Bagno di Romagna. These are some of the most comprehensive in Italy and include a full range of treatments including many you have never heard of before.
Brisighella Emilia Romagna is a spa town which is home to sulphurous springs. Apart from spa treatments the town is surrounded by beautiful countryside of the Apennine foothills. Totally stunning.Tabiano Terme Lumbardy is close to Parma and is in a wondrous valley. Tabiano Terme is reputed to have the most sulphurous waters in Europe and you can judge by the smell. Tabiano di Terme offers a full range of modern spa therapies as well as several centred around the sulphurous waters..
And so the list goes on. There simply is no place in Italy where you will not be near a spa which will get you slim, trim and healthy.After which you can go and have a superb three course Italian meal and start all over again.
You will find you could spend a life-time of holidays exploring the spas of Italy. And enjoy every moment of it.
Balnea or the more popular thermae were the words the ancient Romans used for the buildings housing their public baths.
Note these were not private baths. These were the public, the very public, thermae.
Let us take the average Roman bath of a well-to-do citizen. The bather would be accompanied by one of two slaves and you would strip naked. Then there would be exercise -- running, mild weight-lifting, wrestling, and swimming.
After exercising, servants covered their masters in oil and scraped it off with a strigil (a scraper made of wood or bone) which cleaned off the dirt. This was mainly used because soap was not widely available and was very expensive. (They still do this scraping in parts of Turkey and the muck that comes off your skin is astounding in its quantity.)
If you were a member of the aristocracy you had a Roman bath-house inyour private villa or town houses. The system was the same. The difference was privacy.
A bath was built around three principal rooms: the caldarium (hotbath), the tepidarium (warm bath) and the frigidarium (a freezing cold bath). Some thermae also featured steam baths: the sudatorium, a moist steam bath, and the laconicum, a dry steam bath much like a modern sauna. In the writer's time such a spa existed in St James, London, not only with all the attributes but with everything labelled in Latin. To leap from the calidarium into the frigidarium, an ice cold bath. was not an experience everyone enjoyed. Most customers did not do it twice.
Typically, in Roman Italy there was an adjoining, smaller set of baths assigned to the women. The system was almost identical to the men's baths but the waters were very slightly cooler.
These baths were the social center of social life for Romans. There appears to have been little class distinction and you could have a spa but you could also eat, rink, shop or just socialize.
This great tradition of making the spa, the bath, a center of Italian life has continued to this day. Impossible to say with complete accuracy that there are more spas per head of population in Italy than in any other country in the world. But it would be a reasonable assumption.
Its most modern thermal spas there are beauty treatments, massages and leisure activities. In the old Roman tradition you can also dine there.
This tradition of baths and spas as a focal point of at least part of your life is far from dying away. Indeed, it is gaining in popularity. The use of thermal waters to help cure what ails you have certainly been around in the Mediterranean region, and specifically in Italy, since ancient times as can be seen from archaeological finds, literary and scientific writings and numerous epigraphs.
These treatments have, for the most part, been left unaltered over twenty-four centuries through various historical periods apart from the introduction of advanced technology which has resulted in an innovative approach in using thermal waters for therapeutic purposes and new treatments which are said to be more effective.
The advantages of these treatments are not only linked to the waters'curative properties but also to the beauty and natural attractions that are a general characteristic of Italian spas. The idea of treatment also being a means of recovering energy and physical well-being is quite rightly connected to the idea of a holiday resort and intelligent use of leisure time.
Thus the ancient tradition of thermal waters has been modernized and brought up to date and today more than ever the spa is used to refresh, enliven and, sometimes, cure. Although in truth quite often the delights of the local cuisine balances out the therapeutic effects of the spa.
It does not matter where you travel in Italy from Sicily in the deep south to the far north until you are on the borders of Switzerland, there is always some sort of spa treatment available for this is ageologically active part of Europe and the spas, in a sense, are just taking what nature provides.
Many of these spa towns offer deluxe and standard hotel accommodation with their own unique setting of thermal provisions. In-house doctors and professionally trained staff oversee the treatments that include indoor and outdoor thermal pools.
This has made Italy a prime target for what might be called "healthcare tourism".
Since the last century hotels with extensive facilities have grown up around spas, which have established international reputations. Abano, Salsomaggiore, Chianciano, Montecatini, Fiuggi and Ischia are just a few of the names which have become famous for their therapeutic spas. At the same time Italian spa resorts' proximity to great centers of art means they are perfect bases for cultural excursions.
In North Italy many spas have sprung up on the Euganei Hills in Veneto - volcanic highlands where numerous hot springs gush out of the ground. The main form of treatment in this area is mud therapy recommended for assorted ailments.
In the city of Abano, the legends tell us that Phaeton, son of the Sungod, fell to the ground there with his chariot in flames. His fall caused waters to spring forth which were able to relieve fatigue and pain. You do not have to believe the legends to take advantage of the spas that have resulted.
Moving further south, there is a series of thermal resorts in Emilia-Romagna on the foothills of the Apennines. Tuscany is another Italian region with a high concentration of spas whose waters were already in use in ancient times and are still popular today. It is also, in the season, sadly, full of tourists so make sure you book well ahead. One piece of advice would be to avoid the holiday season during which Tuscany can get uncomfortably crowded.
In southern Italy the numerous spas forming an arc around the Gulf of Naples are extremely important. This is one of the most active volcanic zones in Italy which is why you get Mount Etna. If you want living testimony of the effectiveness of the spas of that area look at Sophia Loren who lives in Naples, is well over 70 plus years of age and looks somewhere around 40. And very, very beautiful with it. She, of course, takes a regular spa treatment.
If we list all of the spas in Italy we could easily fill any magazine. So a selected few:
Campania Ischia Campania
The Island is home to natural hot springs, geysers and fumaroles with very popular spa centers located in Cavascura, Sant'Angelo and Barano.You can have mud treatments, mineral water baths and vapor inhalation therapies. Amazingly, you can have a spa in Ischia's caves, which are naturally heated by volcanic activity and range from something like a dry sauna to a humid Turkish bath.
Emilia Romagna Bagno, southeast of Bologna this small town has springs which supply the spa facilities at Bagno di Romagna. These are some of the most comprehensive in Italy and include a full range of treatments including many you have never heard of before.
Brisighella Emilia Romagna is a spa town which is home to sulphurous springs. Apart from spa treatments the town is surrounded by beautiful countryside of the Apennine foothills. Totally stunning.Tabiano Terme Lumbardy is close to Parma and is in a wondrous valley. Tabiano Terme is reputed to have the most sulphurous waters in Europe and you can judge by the smell. Tabiano di Terme offers a full range of modern spa therapies as well as several centred around the sulphurous waters..
And so the list goes on. There simply is no place in Italy where you will not be near a spa which will get you slim, trim and healthy.After which you can go and have a superb three course Italian meal and start all over again.
You will find you could spend a life-time of holidays exploring the spas of Italy. And enjoy every moment of it.
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Judul: Getting Healthy and Beautiful the Italian Way
Ditulis oleh Unknown
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