Those fitness spa vacations are now turning out to be one of the most sought for travel deals among tourists. The amenities of those fitness resorts alone are so inviting. Technology has advanced in a significant level around the world, which has contributed to the now fast-paced lifestyle that everyone tries hard to cope with. Because of that, exercising to be healthy and fit is being neglected.
Many people are now looking for various fitness travel that they can escape to. The main objective is to separate themselves from the busy urban environment that they have to deal with everyday to de-stress and detoxify. fitness resorts are among the greatest things we can ask for in our generation. It is interesting to find out where these fitness resorts that give us amazing fitness travel experiences came from.
All throughout history, many people travel to either hot or cold springs in the hope of finding cure for some medical concerns. This practice even dates back to earlier times. This fact is validated by the archaeological finds in the form of weapons and offerings from the Bronze Age near the hot springs in France and Czechoslovakia. However, according to legends, the discovery of hot springs located at Bath, England was credited to the early Celtic Kings.
People of different cultures believed in the natural powers of water since the earlier times. There are those who find means to go to different parts of the world to bathe in springs, wells or rivers known to help sick people. There are even rituals performed by the native Americans, Greeks, Egyptians, Romans and many more for physical and spiritual purification. The regard that ancient people have in water and its miraculous wonders was so high that even building construction near bodies of water were either prohibited or limited. In any case that a construction is done, it was only temporary. The high regard for water is even carried out to this day as evident in the many religious ceremonies performed with water.
There are many different stories on the origin of the word “spa”. Some say it is an acronym for old Latin phrases. Others claim the word came from a Walloon word. There are those who say that the word “spa” came from a town in Belgium with the same name and was developed later on to be perceived as the word we know in this century.
In a commercial context, many health spas claim that the word originated in the old Latin language. They say that spa is an acronym for the phrases “Salus Per Aquam” or “Sanitas Per Aquam”. When both phrases are translated to the English language, they say “health through water”. There is, however, no existing validation that this theory is true. There has been no evidence found both by the founders and linguists that the acronym was passed on throughout the centuries to connote the spas that we know right now.
Walloon is the second language spoken in Wallonia, Belguim. There have been so many illnesses all throughout history that were caused by the deficiency in iron. In the Middle Ages, people with iron deficiency-related medical problems were treated by being given a drink of spring water that contains iron. In 1326, however, Collin le Loup, an ironmaster, claimed a cure for the medical problems caused by the lack of iron when the chalybeate spring was called Espa, which is a Walloon word for “fountain”.
Centuries later, the English people revived the old Roman idea on medicinal bathing in some towns such as Bath. In the 1570’s, William Slingsby who once visited the town of Spa in Belgium, found a chalybeate spring that he called Spaw. He later built a wall around the spring to enclose it, making it the first resort in England for drinking medical waters. In the 1590’s, Dr. Timothy Bright named that resort The English Spaw, which was the start of the use of the word “spa” as a generic description to such establishments rather than the name of the Belgian town. In the following years, spa is used to refer to bathing resorts that the ancient rich visited for cleansing.
Whatever the origin of the name, we are very thankful for the original idea that brought us the fitness resorts that we know today. Evolution really is inevitable, and because of that we now have fitness vacations that we can escape to in order to relax and rejuvenate.