ITALY: SOAKING AT TERME DI SATURNIA
by Heather Greenwood Davis
Erase any picture you’ve conjured up of spa heaven. Put away your winged angels with pumice stones and instead take a minute and join me in mine. A plush white robe, a pool of water that makes your skin glow and cures what ails you, and cuisine that is as delicious as it is plentiful. The best part about my heaven? It’s accessible now, before you die, and you only have to get to Italy to experience it.
Terme di Saturnia is not just a spa; it is a blessing from the Spa Gods. Located off to the side of a bumpy road in the Tuscan Maremma, it is easy to miss. In fact I missed it at least three times (each time stopping to ask a local for directions and each time heading off in a different direction) until I finally spotted the discreet entrance that I had passed at least a half dozen times before. But once inside the gates, I quickly determined that this was not going to be an easy place to leave.
A member of the Small Luxury Hotels of the World, the 140-room hotel anchors a pool unlike any other. That is because the “pool” is literally a lake. When the hotel was created in 1900, then owners simply enclosed the natural thermal springs lauded for their holistic qualities for over 3,000 years, and created the pool.
The high sulfur content of the water gives off a less than welcoming smell at times, but that is a tiny price to pay for the silky feeling of your skin after a few minutes of bathing.
Water rushes into the pool at a rate of 800 litres/second keeping it an incredible 37 degrees Celsius year-round.
From the pool the water is guided into pools, waterfalls and hot tubs in a public "pool park" at the base of the property.
Sure, the very same waters are free for the using on the other side of the gates and throughout Saturnia, but Italians flock here for weeks at a time because of the added benefit of medical professionals – including five doctors - trained in how to use these waters therapeutically for everything from making kidneys stronger to getting rid of cellulite.
In fact, the longstanding anti-aging properties of the water are now being studied at a university in Milan. That is why, on any given Sunday, more than 1000 members of the public who could easily have stopped at any one of dozens of watering holes along the way will pass through the public spa doors. Despite those numbers, because of the way in which the resort has kept itself and its lake separate from the public area, you won’t meet up with any of them unless you choose to.
Watching the locals "take the waters,” as they call it, is a lesson to all of us about how to stay healthy and active.
You’ll see all ages here: infants in strollers watch begrudgingly as older siblings, parents and grandparents slip happily into the water.
Doctors here caution that pregnant women and young children need to be particularly careful about the amount of time they spend in the water due to the high sulfuric content. Others are advised to indulge for a maximum of 15 minutes at a time.
Once out of the water there are plenty of esthetic treatments to keep you happy. Twenty esthetic rooms cater to your beauty needs and all of the treatments involve the special waters in some shape or form. One of the treatment is the popular mud therapy (image on right)which uses local clay and the mineral water in a mixture that takes one year to reach the saturation maturation point, developing its own microorganisms along the way.
The result is mud that is able to maintain its temperature for a long period of time offering a heated mud wrap to the willing participant. If normal clay were heated to the same 47 degree temperature it would cause 2nd degree burns! But here, the tightening effect of the mud wrap combined with the soothing waters is nothing short of bliss.
When not being pampered in the spa or indulging in the waters, I take in the property in my robe, wandering the grounds, dining on mouthwatering dishes poolside and examining their art gallery home to artifacts that would make many museum curators more than a little jealous. Occasionally, I return to reality with a drive through neighbouring towns to catch a glimpse of the olive trees, ancient Etruscan tombs or to chat with the locals.
But mostly I relax, take it all in and try not to think about checkout time.
Saturnia is about 170 km north of Rome and 200 km south of Florence. Roads are tiny and can be confusing at times so plan for getting lost and think of it as an adventure.
For more info www.termedisaturnia.it
Heather Greenwood Davis is a Toronto-based freelancer and travel columnist with the the Toronto Star.
