Tuscany · Pisa
San Giuliano Terme
A thermal spa at the foot of Monte Pisano, ten kilometers from Pisa, where the springs were bathed since the Romans called them Aquae Pisanae.
5 km / 3 mi
Nearest hub (Pisa)
30,652
Population
All year
Best time to visit
Recognised as
Why come
San Giuliano Terme sitsat the southern foot of Monte Pisano, ten kilometers north of Pisa. The hot springs that rise here, between 38 and 41 degrees, were known to the Romans as Aquae Pisanae and rebuilt as a spa town by the Medici and later the Lorena. The Bagni di Pisa thermal complex, restored from the eighteenth-century Lorena baths, is where Byron, Shelley and Mary Shelley took the waters in 1821, while the latter finished Valperga and the former drafted The Two Foscari. Giacomo Leopardi was a patient here in 1827 and again in 1828. The Acquedotto Mediceo, a 6-kilometer aqueduct of 934 arches built by Cosimo I starting in 1592, runs from the springs of Asciano down to Pisa, parallel to the modern road. The town's frazioni climb the slope of the Monte Pisano, with olive groves and the trails of the Parco di Migliarino-San Rossore-Massaciuccoli on the plain below.
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Bagni di Pisa | The Tuesday Cure
By the sea, cold hits differently. When that flat grey sky arrives, it means two things in our house: a big pot of bollito, and a thermal bath. The problem is finding one, the whole apparatus, multiple pools, the salt pool, sauna, steam room, mud, the entire game. For us, that means San Giuliano Terme, at the foot of Monte Pisano, and the Bagni di Pisa.
Known for
Bagni di Pisa
Eighteenth-century Lorena thermal complex, restored and reopened, taken by Byron, Shelley and Leopardi in the 1820s.
Acquedotto Mediceo
Six-kilometer aqueduct of 934 arches built by Cosimo I starting in 1592, running from the Asciano springs down to Pisa.
Monte Pisano
The granite ridge above the town, with olive groves on the lower slopes and trails leading to Rocca della Verruca.
Parco di Migliarino-San Rossore-Massaciuccoli
Coastal-plain park bordering the comune, with the old Medici hunting estate of San Rossore and pine forests behind the dunes.
Pieve di San Giovanni Battista a Pugnano
Eleventh-century Romanesque parish church in the frazione of Pugnano, on the old Pisa-Lucca road.
When to visit
Best months · All year
- J
- F
- M
- A
- M
- J
- J
- A
- S
- O
- N
- D
- Best
- Hot or crowded
- Quiet
- Mostly closed
The thermal town runs year-round. Winter is the original spa season, with the warm pools welcome against the cold air off the Monte Pisano. April through June and September into October are the dry mild months for combining a spa stay with walks on Monte Pisano and the Parco di San Rossore. July and August are hot in the plain, and most of the bathing shifts to the early morning and evening. The Acquedotto Mediceo on a clear cold morning, the 934 arches running parallel to the modern road, is the photograph that gives the town its scale.
How to get there
From Pisa, San Giuliano Terme is roughly 5 km by road. Allow about 20–6 minutes depending on traffic and route choice (autostrada vs scenic).
Drive time to the nearest gateway airports
- Florence / Pisa26m
- Bologna2h 1m
- Genoa2h 12m
Elevation 10 m
Reachable by train
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