SPA - 4 reference results
Spa, commune (1991 pop. 10,140), Liège prov., E Belgium, in the Ardennes. Its therapeutic mineral springs and baths, frequented since the 16th cent., made it an internationally fashionable watering place. Its name became so well known that the word spa is used to designate any health resort. The town had its ultimate vogue in the 18th and 19th cent. At the Spa Conference (1920) the Allies accepted a German plan for the payment of war reparations.
The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia Copyright © 2004.
Licensed from Columbia University Press
Licensed from Columbia University Press
Royal Leamington Spa, town (1991 pop. 42,953), Warwickshire, central England, on the Leam River, a tributary of the Avon. The town, with its mineral springs, is primarily a health resort largely of 19th-century growth.
The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia Copyright © 2004.
Licensed from Columbia University Press
Licensed from Columbia University Press
Spring or resort with thermal or mineral water for drinking and bathing. The word derives from a Belgian town whose springs reputedly had curative powers. Mineral springs usually contain various salts, trace minerals, and gases; many are naturally carbonated. Most thermal springs (see hot spring) also contain minerals. Warm-water bathing aids relaxation (see hydrotherapy), and high salt or sulfur content helps some skin conditions. Drinking mineral water is believed to aid digestion, and waters with specific minerals are used for particular conditions.
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Encyclopedia Britannica, 2008. Encyclopedia Britannica Online.
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