Terme dei Papi

Terme dei Papi lies just outside the historic centre of Viterbo, in the Tuscia countryside of northern Lazio. Its centrepiece is the monumental open-air thermal pool, which the operator says covers an area of two thousand square metres and is fed exclusively by hyperthermal water from the Bullicame spring; the water is described as emerging from the spring at 58° and arriving steaming in the basin through stone mouths that pour towards the centre of the pool. A second page on the same site describes the monumental pool as fed by thermal water at a constant temperature of 36 degrees, so the operator gives the spring temperature and the bathing temperature separately without stating the difference explicitly.

The water is classified by the operator as a sulphurous, sulphate-bicarbonate alkaline-earth water under the name "Bullicame". The site attributes to it antioxidant, soothing and regenerating properties and a specific content of trace elements, and lists therapeutic indications for the respiratory tract, the locomotor system, chronic skin conditions, the female gynaecological system and venous and lymphatic circulation. Alongside the pool the establishment offers thermal cures recognised by the Italian national health service - mud therapy, balneotherapy and inhalation treatments - under medical supervision, a diagnostic service, the filiform shower, a natural steam grotto where thermal vapour is used for cleansing and muscular relaxation, hydrosound and a vascular circuit, as well as a spa with thermal, facial, body, holistic, ayurvedic, beauty and ritual treatments, day packages, a hotel (Hotel Niccolò V) and a restaurant. The company also sells a thermal cosmetic line, Aqua Dives, based on the water and mud.

According to the operator the thermal centre is open 365 days a year, holidays included, continuously from 9.00 to 19.00. The monumental outdoor pool keeps its own timetable: Monday 9.00-19.00; Tuesday closed for routine maintenance, with the closing day moved if it falls on a holiday; Wednesday, Thursday and Friday 9.00-20.00; Saturday 9.00-1.00, with the Bagno sotto le stelle night bathing every Saturday from 21.00 to 1.00; and Sunday 9.00-20.00. Changing rooms, showers, a bar and a restaurant serve the pool. Published prices include a three-hour entry at 12 euro on weekdays and 18 euro on pre-holidays and holidays, a day ticket at 18 and 25 euro, children aged 2 to 12 at 8 euro, and a ten-entry pass at 120 euro. The pool and its evening programmes are being sold and timetabled on the site, so the establishment is operating.