Thermes du Connétable

The Thermes du Connetable are the larger of La Roche-Posay's two historic thermal buildings, set in the thermal park on the Colline du Paradis, opposite the 1905 establishment now known as the Pavillon Rose. The foundation stone was laid in 1927 and the building was inaugurated in 1932 as the Nouvel Etablissement Thermal; a service dedicated to children followed in 1958, and in 1981 the building took the name of Bertrand Duguesclin, Constable of France, whom the operator credits with the discovery of the water's properties in 1369. After a first refit in the 1990s, a large-scale renovation has rebuilt the rear block, redone the entrance hall and treatment wings and added a cafe space, giving close to 4,000 square metres devoted to skin conditions.

The station treats dermatology and nothing else, and the accredited cures are organised by condition: adult and childhood eczema, psoriasis, scars and burns, skin sequelae of cancer treatment, and other skin disorders. Treatment is built on four steps repeated daily - the filiform shower administered by the thermal doctor, a local or general bath, massage under a ramp of thermal water given by a physiotherapist, and spray application, local or general. Oral care, drinking cures and rehydrating wraps and masks can be added. The centre also runs a trademarked cupping technique for stiff and adherent scars within the massage protocol, and its children's and stomatology services were rebuilt in the same works.

The water itself is used untreated. It percolates slowly through Turonian chalk and is drawn from a protected catchment perimeter at depths of 30 to 80 metres, emerging at 13 C with a pH of 7. The operator publishes 387 mg/l of bicarbonates, 150 mg/l of calcium, 31.6 mg/l of silica and 53 micrograms per litre of selenium, and classes the water as weakly mineralised, bicarbonate-calcium, silicate and selenium-bearing. A Council of State decree of 3 August 2018 declared the resource of public interest. Reception at the Connetable opens at 7:45 on Mondays and 8:00 from Tuesday to Friday, closing at 13:00, and the building runs a season from 9 February to 12 December 2026; an inclusive cafeteria on site is open Monday to Saturday from 8:00 to 16:00. The wider centre, part of the L'Oreal group, also holds the Spa Source, a 2,000 square metre wellness spa open daily all year, and the Pavillon des Sources shop and exhibition space.