Montecatini Terme

History

The presence of humans in the area of Montecatini is very old. Probably from Paleolithic times the region was frequented by itinerant hunters, but only from the Mesolithic period is there evidence of numerous settlements, especially in the hills of the Valdinievole. Records of the thermal springs in the region date at least as far back as the Romans. Montecatini Castello, today's Montecatini Alto, was documented by medieval times. In the settlement there was already a spa, thanks to the salt waters of the city, which later also flowed into the plain below. There is evidence for this in a document from 1340 which refers to the extraction of salt from the water. There is also proof in a letter sent by the merchant Francesco di Marco Datini in which he requests from his doctor the healing water of the Montecatini baths. Other evidence comes from the famous doctor Ugolino of Montecatini who examined the waters scientifically for the first time. He also tells us that there were three baths in Montecatini; the Bagno Della Regina, the Bagno dei Merli and the Bagno Nuovo. Today the Bagno Nuovo is known as the Tettuccio. Conditions in the town during medieval times were difficult, the region was plagued by epidemics, paludic diseases (attributed to the influence of marshes, such diseases including malaria) and wars. The battles locally between Florence, Pisa and Lucca, often forced townsfolk to seek refuge to the surrounding hills, because the town was the scene of continuous clashes. We must also remember that Montecatini was mainly constituted of padule (marshes). Livy confirms this when he described how Hannibal of Carthage passed by the padule of Fucecchio in his march to the south. From the 10th century until 1270 with the Republic of Lucca, attempts were made to…