Chapter 2
A History of Spa and
Spa Cultures
Spa: A Comprehensive Introduction
(120T or 120)
© 2008, Educational Institute
Competencies for
A History of Spa and Spa Cultures
1. Describe the importance of water and
water rituals to the following ancient
cultures: Egyptian, Hebrew, Minoan,
Indian, Chinese, and Japanese.
2. Describe the similarities and differences
between and ancient Greek and Roman
styles of bathing and spa culture.
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(continued)
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Competencies for
A History of Spa and Spa Cultures
(continued)
3. Discuss how religious and political issues
affected the development and popularity
of spas in Europe.
4. Identify the people involved in the
development of medical spas in the
eighteenth, nineteenth, and early twentieth
centuries.
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Wallace’s Ten Universal and
Necessary Spa Features
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Proper use of mineral springs and climates
Competent medical supervision
Proper dietary regimen
Systematic rest
Regulated exercise
Proper knowledge of the patient’s reserve
and limits
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Wallace’s Ten Universal and
Necessary Spa Features
(continued)
• Spa therapies including physical, electro-,
helio-, and hydro-procedures administered
by competent attendants
• Planning and regulation of the patient’s day
• Psychic elevation of the morale
• Development of a proper philosophy toward
the disease from which the patient suffered
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Timeline of Spa History
3100 BCE-100 BCE
3100-300 BCE
Egyptian civilization practices
water therapy and herbal
remedies, similar to those used in
spas today.
1800-1500 BCE Babylonian culture establishes
bathing in rivers and the
application of hot and cold
‘compresses.’
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Timeline of Spa History
3100 BCE-100 BCE
(continued)
1000 BCE
700-200 BCE
600-300 BCE
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Earliest known writings on
Chinese medicine, much of which
is still practiced.
Greeks practice cold water bathing
for Spartan warriors.
Persians introduce steam and mud
baths.
(continued)
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Timeline of Spa History
3100 BCE-100 BCE
(continued)
300 BCE
200 BCE
100 BCE
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Greeks introduce water treatments to
the Roman Empire.
Hebrews practice purification ritual
by water through immersion in the
Dead Sea.
Thailand’s (then Siam) tradition of
massage and healing dates from the
time Buddhism first arrived in
Thailand from India.
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Timeline of Spa History
76 CE-1669 CE
76 CE
211 CE
800 CE
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Romans build a principal spa in Bath
(Aquae Sulis) in Britain.
Romans discover the thermal spring in
Baden-Baden (Aqua Aureliae) in
Germany, which are still in
commercial operation today.
Ottoman Empire builds Turkish baths.
(continued)
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Timeline of Spa History
76 CE-1669 CE
(continued)
1326 CE A curative, iron-bearing spring is
discovered at Spa in Belgium that
proves to be a spring used by the
Romans before 100 AD named Sulsu
Par Aqua.
1336 CE First “shower” developed in the baths
of Bormio in Italy.
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(continued)
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Timeline of Spa History
76 CE-1669 CE
(continued)
1449 CE Bishop of Bath proclaims that nude,
mixed bathing profanes God’s “holy
gift of water.” Bathers made to wear
smocks while taking the waters in Bath.
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Timeline of Spa History
76 CE-1669 CE
(continued)
1536-1540 CE Henry VIII of England closes hot
baths and holy wells due to their
implication in the “superstition and
religion of Rome” (i.e.,
Catholicism).
1669 CE
Natural Bathes, by Thomas
Guiddott, lists the minerals
contained in water for the first time.
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Timeline of Spa History
1750 CE-1829 CE
1750 CE Dr. Richard Russell of Brighton
publishes De Tabe Glanduri in which
he claims “The sea washes away all the
evils of mankind,” the first modern
recognition of thalassotherapy.
1806 CE Modern massage techniques known as
Swedish massage are developed by
Swedish physiologist Per Henrick Ling.
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(continued)
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Timeline of Spa History
1750 CE-1829 CE
(continued)
1826 CE John Arnold of Rhode Island opens the
first US “pleasure resort” in Saratoga,
New York. Saratoga is a Mohawk
Indian word for “the place of the
medicine waters of the great spirit.”
1829 CE Vincent Priessnitz establishes the first
modern hydrotherapy spa, with a
health package of treatments involving
fresh air, cold water, diet, and exercise,
in Graefenberg, Germany.
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Timeline of Spa History
1861 CE-1924 CE
1861 CE Dr. William Winternitz, known as
the father of scientific hydrotherapy,
opens a clinic and Institute of
Hydrotherapy in Vienna, Austria.
1870 CE A Dutch doctor, Johann Mezgner,
uses massage in rehabilitation,
which becomes accepted in many
countries, especially Germany and
the United States.
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Timeline of Spa History
1861 CE-1924 CE
(continued)
1880 CE Father Sebastian Kneipp starts
practicing hydrotherapy for the benefit
of the poor in Bad Worishofen,
Germany. His treatment center still
operates today.
1924 CE The first facility for remedial exercise
in water, the Hubbard Tank, developed
by American orthopedic surgeon L. W.
Hubbard, famous for treating Franklin
D. Roosevelt, who suffered from polio.
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