The word “spa” has a long balneological history and is derived from Latin. It refers to a significant unique natural resource and has been in use since the 1st century. The use of spa springs remains much the same as it was at the end of the 16th century and as it is throughout the world today. It was not until the 18th century that physicians began prescribing spa treatments, initially combining them with leisure activities, entertainment, and walking.

After Tsar Peter the Great underwent a spa cure in 1717, Spa became a fashionable meeting place for the European aristocracy. The spa industry influenced the town’s development, which naturally expanded around the main spring and further into the surrounding landscape and forests.

Promenades connecting the springs offer views of the neighboring hills and were designed with an emphasis on the relationship between nature and drinking cures. This therapeutic landscape is widely used. Since the end of the 18th century, the protection of the thermal springs has had a significant influence on the development of the landscape and the growth of the town.

Spa possesses all the attributes of an authentic spa town: numerous springs with pavilions surrounded by intimate gardens, spa streets with thermal bathhouses, casinos and social venues, parks and gardens, hotels and villas, and an open therapeutic spa landscape.