What is Abano Terme known for?

Hyperthermal bromo-iodine-salt water at 80°C, the largest spa basin in Europe with continuous use since the eighth century BC. Roman name for the springs, taken from a pre-Roman deity; Colle Montirone preserves traces of the imperial-era complex. Mineral mud aged sixty days in the thermal basins before treatment, the technique that built the modern spa industry from the 1950s.

Where is Abano Terme?

Abano Terme is a comune in the province of Padova, Veneto region of Italy, about 10 kilometers from Padova.

Veneto · Padova

Abano Terme

Europe's oldest thermal town on the Euganean Hills' eastern slope, where 80°C bromo-iodine springs have been drawing bathers since the eighth century BC.

10 km / 6 mi

Nearest hub (Padova)

20,231

Population

All year

Best time to visit

Recognised as

Comuni Termali

Why come

Abano Terme sitson the eastern slope of the Euganean Hills, ten kilometers southwest of Padova. The springs surface at 80°C, classified as hyperthermal bromo-iodine-salt water, and the Veneti were already worshipping them in the eighth century BC. The Romans built a temple to Aponus here and called the place Aquae Patavinae. The Lombards destroyed the baths in the sixth century. They were rebuilt when Abano became an autonomous comune in the twelfth, enlarged again in the late fourteenth, and absorbed into the Republic of Venice from 1405 to 1797. The Colle Montirone archaeological site still holds traces of the Roman thermal complex, and the Duomo di San Lorenzo, rebuilt in 1780 over an older church, anchors the historic center. The contemporary draw is fango-balneotherapy: mineral mud aged for sixty days in the source basins, then applied at body temperature. Most of the 250 hotels in Abano-Montegrotto are spa hotels.

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Gallery

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Known for

Duomo di San Lorenzo
Cathedral rebuilt in 1780 over a pre-existing church, with a campanile dating to the fourteenth century and a Baroque interior.
Colle Montirone
Archaeological site on a small thermal hill, with traces of the Roman baths of Aponus and an obelisk erected in the eighteenth century.
Parco Termale Urbano
Public thermal park threading the centro storico, with footpaths between hotels, gardens and the source pools.
Santuario della Madonna della Salute di Monteortone
Fifteenth-century sanctuary in the frazione of Monteortone, built after a 1428 apparition recorded during the plague.
Colli Euganei
Volcanic hills behind the town, a regional park of vineyards, olive groves and walking trails between Abano and Arquà Petrarca.

When to visit

Best months · All year

Best
Hot or crowded
Quiet
Mostly closed

Abano works year-round because the heat comes from underground. January through March is peak spa season for residents of northern Italy: the contrast between cold air and hot pools is part of the appeal, and hotel cure programs run twelve days at this time. April through June and September through October bring the hills into play, with walking weather and lighter spa traffic. July and August push past thirty degrees and the open-air thermal pools fill with Austrian and German visitors; the centro storico is quieter then. November through December is the off-season for tourism but a working month for the cure clinics. The springs surface at the same eighty degrees in every month.