Termas da Rainha

The Termas da Rainha D. Leonor in Caldas da Rainha is home to the oldest thermal hospital still in operation anywhere in the world. Founded in 1485 by Queen Dona Leonor, who was struck by the way local people bathed in and benefited from the naturally warm waters, the institution gave the town its name and set the course for five centuries of medical hydrology.

The thermal water and its source

The spring rises within the historic complex as a distinctive mineral water, classified as sulphurous, hypersaline and of sodium-chloride composition. It emerges at roughly 34-35°C, with a near-neutral pH of about 6.9 and a strong mineralisation. This composition gives the water its characteristic sulphurous scent and its long-recognised therapeutic value.

The historic thermal hospital and baths

What began as a modest hospital was transformed in the mid-18th century into a monumental thermal establishment. Between 1747 and 1750, under King Joao V and Queen Maria Ana of Austria, the buildings were rebuilt to designs associated with Manuel da Maia and Eugenio dos Santos, adding bathing pools, upper floors and royal apartments in the Joanine style. The result is one of Portugal's most significant thermal-heritage ensembles.

Treatments

The waters have traditionally been prescribed for respiratory conditions and for rheumatic and musculoskeletal disorders. Care is delivered through medical hydrology under prescription, and the range of applications has included:

• Immersion baths and hydromassage
• Jet, circular and Vichy showers
• Steam therapies and mud packs
• ENT treatments such as nebulisation, nasal irrigation and inhalation
• Manual and segmental massage
• Complementary physical therapies

Heritage and setting

The thermal complex sits at the heart of Caldas da Rainha, alongside the Museum of the Hospital and the Caldas, the Church of Nossa Senhora do Populo (a national monument), and the green expanse of Parque D. Carlos I and the Mata Rainha D. Leonor. Together they form a living record of Portuguese thermal culture, centred on the queen whose 15th-century vision still shapes the town today.