Tuscany has many thermal spas the largest and most famous of them is Montecatini Terme.

Montecatini Terme is a beautiful town that was built around its mineral water springs. The spring water is considered to help people with trouble with the stomach or liver. Healthy people can enjoy the old time grandeur of the town, stroll in the park or enjoy spa treatments in the various hotels.

The most famous spa in town is the Tettuccio Terme located on the main street of Montecatini Terme - Viale Verdi, next to the park. on the same street you can find the municipality building and the tourist information center.

The Tettuccio Terme was built in the late 18th century by the Grand Duke of Tuscany, Leopold of Habsburg - Lorraine, the son of the Austrian Empress Maria Theresa. The first three spas that were built were the Tettuccio, the Regina and Leopoldine. These three spas made Montecatini Terme famous all over Europe, and a favorite place for the rich and the royalty.

These days the spa treatments have advanced and they include many modern methods of massage, mud pack treatments and hydrotherapy.

Famous visitors to Montecatini Terme include, but are not limited to - Puccini who composed parts of La Boheme here, and Verdi.

Montecatini is one of Europe's leading spas in northwestern Tuscany (30K east of Lucca) and is a wealthy and popular watering-hole lying at the foot of the Pistoian mountains. The baths and spas date back to the fourteenth century and nowadays there are nine fully-functioning “terme” spread around the town.

History and Culture of Montecatini

The healing power of the springs of Montecatini appears to have been recognized in ancient times, for the Terme Leopoldine have yielded Roman figurines which have been interpreted as votive offerings. In his book on Italian spas (1417) the 15th century doctor Ugolino Simoni mentions Montecatini, referring to three bathing establishments which were then in existence. Under the Medici, who added Montecatini to their private estates in 1583, the importance of the spa declined, and it began to recover only in the latter part of the 18th century Grand Duke Leopold I (later Emperor Leopold II) was mainly responsible for the modernization of the town and the construction of the various establishments - the Stabilimento Regina, the Terme Leopoldine, the Stabilimento Tettuccio, the Palazzina Regia. The development of the spa continued when it became the property of the Benedictines of the Badia di Firenze. Montecatini is now the largest spa in Italy; its waters are recommended particularly for the treatment of disorders of the liver and gall bladder and diseases of the stomach and intestines.

Thermal Baths Montecatini Terme it is undoubtedly one of the more important thermal centers of Europe. Elegant, peaceful and relaxing, they make for perfect resting places. Enjoy a glass of enriched water, or take the plunge for the full treatment ... you'll be in illustrious company. Previous visitors include Rossini, Verdi, Princess Grace, Orson Welles, Clark Gable, Douglas Fairbanks and assorted European royalty. In addition to experiencing the beneficial properties of the water and mud-baths, the architecture of the buildings offers an important and suggestive example of the Liberty style that charcterizes the city.

Terme Leopoldine, built during the second half of the 18th century, transformed and enlarged in 1926. Located next the Leopoldine is another modern establishment, “Grocco”, equipped with thermal pools. The “Tamerici” surrounded by a large park with interiors decorated by Galileo Chini; the 19th century "Terme Torretta" enriched in 1904 by a suggestive portico in Neo Renaissance style, and the Excelsior, built in the beginning of the 20th century, this was last enlarged and reconstructed toward the end of the 60's and today hosts the new “Centro Benessere” (health center) where along with the traditional cures (idropinica, mud-bath, balneoterapia, idromassaggi) one can enjoy the services offered by the beauty farm. Among all of the thermal structures however the “Tettuccio” stands out representing an authentic symbol of Montecatini, built in the age of Grand-ducal and reconstructed in 1925 by the Architect Giovanozzi who wanted to create a thermal city immersed in green.

Montecatini ideal place for those who look for quietness and relax who wish to wake-up with the birds singing have breakfast by the swimming pool and spend the day at the thermal baths.

Located in the heart of Tuscany, near Florence, Pisa and Siena, Montecatini Terme is one of the most famous spa towns renowned for the natural healing

This is one of the most popular and best known thermal spas in Italy. It is situated in the Nievole Valley at the foot of the Pistoia Apennines. The curative properties of its waters have been known since the Middle Ages.

The town began as a small spa at the end of the eighteenth century and grew to its present dimensions in recent times. The waters which come from the various thermal and subthermal springs are divided into three types: “strong” water (from the Tamerici and Torretta springs) which is purgative, “medium” water (from the Regina spring) which is laxative, and “weak” water (from the Tettuccio and Rinfresco springs) which is diuretic.

They are mostly used for drinking but also for bathing, mud baths and inhalation. You can visit the neoclassical parish church built by Cambray-Digny in 1824, the park on which the art nouveau Excelsior baths are built, the eighteenth century Leopoldine baths and the luxurious Tettuccio establishment.

Treatments Hydropinic therapy, mud-bath treatment, inhalation therapy, balneotherapy, physiotherapy.

Links By train Montecatini Terme Railway Station on the Florence – Viareggio line.

Links By air Pisa Airport “Galilei” (47 km), Firenze Peretola Airport (43 km). By car Motorway A 11 Firenze Pisa Nord, Montecatini Terme exit Excursions Collodi, Pescia, Monsummano Terme, Montevettoli, Vinci, Pistoia, Serravalle, Abetone, Florence, Lucca, Pisa, Viareggio. Sports Tennis courts, wing shooting, golf course and race course.

Treatment centres Tettuccio e Regina, Viale Verdi 71 - Excelsior, Viale Verdi La Salute, Via della Salute 2 - Torretta, Piazzale Torretta 1 Leopoldine, Viale Verdi 67 - Redi, Viale Bicchierai 64 Tamerici, Viale Tamerici 69

Pistoia, Montecatini and the nearby town of Monsummano Terme are well known for their springs, which have excellent curative powers. Montecatini is half-way between Florence and Pisa on the Firenze-Mare highway; once you arrive you can choose between a complete range of treatments. Terme di MONTECATINI - The Therms of Montecatini address: Viale G. Verdi, 41 51016 - Montecatini Terme (PT) phone ( 39) 0572/778487 OPENING: Istituto Grocco phone ( 39) (0572/78647), Terme Excelsior (0572/778511): all year long Terme La Salute phone ( 39) (0572/778571) : from May to October Terme Leopoldine phone ( 39) (0572/778551) : from May to October Terme Redi phone ( 39) (0572/778531) : from May to October Terme Tamerici phone ( 39) (0572/778561) : from May to October Terme Tettuccio Regina phone ( 39) (0572/778501) : from May to October Terme Torretta phone ( 39) (0572/778541): from May to October The waters Montecatini thermal waters' beneficial effects had been known for hundreds of years, but it was the house of the Lorena who, in the XVIII century, valorised and made popular the qualities of these waters building a true thermal town. Montecatini Terme is the destination for tourists who enjoy the amenity of the gentle Pistoia hills, and choose the city for its diversified and customised thermal offer, counting as they can on nine establishments: Tettuccio, Torretta, Tamerici, Leopoldine, Excelsior, Redi, Regina, La Salute and the Istituto Grocco. The hot mineral waters surge into the surface from a depth of about 1000 metres, reaching a maximum temperature, once surfaced, of around 33° C. The physical-chemical composition of the waters varies in every spring depending on the concentration of saline content of the earth layers it passes, which further differentiate hard, medium or sweet waters.

About the spas The nine thermal spas in Montecatini offer all the types of thermal cures: the mud, the inhalation cures, hydro massage, aesthetic cures and physical therapies.

The waters of each establishment are characterised by a variable presence of saline content which diversifies the curative effects; each water, therefore, is indicated for a specific therapy, although it is a good idea to use the four types of waters to obtain a general balancing effect on the organism.

Pistoia: Monsummano Terme and it's caverns The grottos (caverns) are natural hollows, dug in the rock and characterized by the fact that there are microclimates, which are particularly suitable for being used in therapy. In Tuscany there are warm grottos that use the natural heat for treating rheumo-arthropatic diseases. As early as 1771-72 Pietro Leopoldo ordered the construction of the baths at Montecatini at public expense. In less than a decade the basis of the spa was created in an area which up to then had been malaria infested and abandoned. The new spa was linked to the Lucca-Pistoia road by a broad, tree lined avenue. Between the eighteen forties and fifties, the Giusti family began exploiting the marvelous hot-wet world of the recently discovered grotto, through the construction of the "health facility" and hotel. By the 'sixties the Giusti grotto had attained such international renown that it had gone well beyond the "pioneering" phase so that it was no longer second to the nearby spas at Montecatini.

Grotta Giusti di Monsummano
The Grotta Giusti Spa situated at the foot of Monsummano hills, knows how to make the best of the link between man and nature providing, around the large hot grotto, a unique example of a spa centre for well-being. Here the guests can reunited with nature, enjoy the gentle Tuscan landscape and visit the small unpolluted medieval centres. The grotto was called " The eighth wonder in the world " by Giuseppe Verdi, the famous opera composer. There are three lakes feeded by warm waters generate steam (40° Celsius). Grotta Giusti Terme address: Via Grotta Giusti, 171 51015 - Monsumanno Terme (PT) phone ( 39) 0572/51008 OPENING: From April to November 15th Grotta Parlanti di di Monsummano - Speaking grotto Grotta Parlanti is a picturesque artificial cavern where the natural vapour of the "Parlanti spring" is being collected and its carbonate-sulphate-calcic radioactive water flows at 32 degrees the healing quality of this kind of treatment is excellent and has been renowned since more than a century. The Therms of Grotta Parlanti (Monsummano Terme) Grotta Parlanti Terme address: Via Grotta Parlanti, 41/D 51015 - Monsumanno Terme (PT) phone ( 39) 0572/953029 OPENING: From April to October 15th

How to arrive in Montecatini by Plane
The nearest airport's are “Galilei” Airport of Pisa (62 Km) or “A. Vespucci” Airport of Florence (41 Km). From Pisa Airport by car it takes 30 minutes Highway Genova-Livorno (A10) towards Genova and Motorway (A11) FI-mare towards Florence. By train: Pisa - Lucca and Lucca - Montecatini Terme. By car from Florence airport take motorway (A11) FI-mare towards Pisa. By train: Florence - Prato - Pistoia - Montecatini Terme

How to arrive in Montecatini by train
To get the train to Montecatini first you will need to go to Florence. Florence is an important railway hub. So getting to Florence is very easy from any Italian city from the city's main train station, Stazione di Santa Maria Novella. From here you get the train to Montecatini Terme.

How to arrive in Montecatini by Car
The main motorway (A1) connects Florence with Bologna and Milano in the North and Rome and Naples in the South. Take the(A1) towards Florence then Highway A11 Firenze-Mare, exit at Montecatini Terme.

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