ABSTRACT
Throughout the 19th century, European aristocrats set aside a special time of the year, usually in midsummer and early fall, for spa cures that took between 10 days and 3 months. Using water for treating disorders and diseases is one of humanity's oldest traditions. The first Europeans known to believe in the medical virtues of bathing – that is, the first balneologists – were the Greeks, followed by the Romans who built 'bath complexes', the famous thermae. Wherever the Romans went they looked for rivers, lakes or springs and built temples on the sites. The Roman architect and civil engineer Marcus Vitruvius explained it by the fact that 'for all the temples the most healthful areas are chosen and in these places, in which shrines are to be erected, there be adequate springs of water'. The Catholic Church maintains that God heals through sacraments and natural elements, water being one of them.
