Terme di Saturnia

Terme di Saturnia lies in the Tuscan Maremma at Follonata, in the commune of Manciano, around a natural spring pool that has been in use since Etruscan and Roman times; a papal bull of 1188 already records a hospital and a mill 'de balneo' on the site, the Ciacci family bought the baths in 1865, and the first hotel went up in 1919. The water begins as rain on the slopes of Monte Amiata and spends about forty years underground crossing Pleistocene and Mesozoic rock before surfacing in the spring basin at the centre of the estate, from where it feeds the thermal park continuously and then runs on across the fields to the Cascate del Mulino waterfalls downstream.

It is a sulphurous water with a total mineral content of 2,790 mg/L, carrying hydrogen sulphide at about 14.5 mg/L along with lithium, strontium and boron, and it emerges at the temperature of the human body. The operator publishes a substantial body of clinical work on it, citing university studies on psoriasis, on joint and muscle complaints measured with the WOMAC index, and on inhalation therapy, and it markets a thermal bioplankton found in the water as the basis of its cosmetics line. A medical centre and inhalation and mud-bath departments operate alongside the bathing.

Day visitors do not need to stay at the hotel. Two admission tiers give access to the same spring water. The Thermal Park covers twenty thousand square metres of landscaped grounds with four outdoor thermal pools, an octagonal basin, a children's pool, hydromassage stations, waterfalls, a vascular walk, a sauna and an argillarium, plus a bistro and free parking; a white dress code applies to towels and robes, which can be hired on site, and outside food and drink are not admitted. The Club is the quieter tier: it includes the Thermal Park but adds direct entry to the spring lake itself, along with heated indoor relaxation rooms, a Finnish sauna with sensory showers, a yoga tub and a reserved lounger area. Both are open all year, the park on a summer and winter timetable, the Club daily from half past nine with morning, afternoon and Friday-evening slots.