The experience reaches back thousands of years. For example, 2000 years ago Roman soldiers stationed in Hungary well knew what a welcome feeling it is to console tired bodies in baths. They practised it with joy as did, of course, not only soldiers but all sections of Roman society including both the poor and the wealthy. (According to estimates, 300 litres of water per head could be used in the heyday of ancient Rome! No wonder the Romans constructed water pipes which are remarkable even today.)The capital of Pannonia, Aquincum (in today’s Budapest), was definitely one of the pearls of the Roman Empire, at least from the point of view of spas. Many hundreds of years later the Turks arrived in the territory of Hungary and although during their 150 years of domination antipathy natural towards conquerors surrounded them, it must be acknowledged that they contributed a great deal to the country’s bathing culture. They built impressive spas, which can still be seen and even experienced in the Hungarian capital.
When the Turks were driven out the baths began to deteriorate. For a long time Christianity denied the curing properties of spas, but the main problem concerned rather the moral dangers of common bathing. (Saint Jerome, for example, allowed bathing only for children.) With some reason baths were considered a hotbed of lust, which had to be confined. However, this could only be maintained for a while since common sense and people’s healthy attitude to life won through such that today bathing culture is a form of well-deserved luxury. In the 17th century a certain Mr Brown, a British physician, wrote: “The naturally hot spas in Buda are considered the most significant in the world.” It is not easy to list precisely how many types of waters can cure us.
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