Ian Bradley on Health Tourism, Illness, and Therapy
January 22, 2021
It was in the 18th century that Europe’s spas came into their own as elegant resorts for the well-heeled upper and middle classes, drawn initially by the therapeutic benefits of taking the waters and increasingly also by the diversions offered and the chance to mix with the rich and titled. Spas became the pre-eminent places in which to be seen and to socialize. They developed a distinct architectural landscape in which the bath house was joined by a pump room, for taking the waters and promenading, and assembly rooms, for socializing, gambling, dancing and concerts.