Mineral spa

There has always been a mixture of recreational and medicinal connotations involved, from rest and relaxation, stress relief, and convalescence to more specific notions such as humorism.

In many cases, mineral spas were located in mountainous locales that gave an additional excuse to leave the drudgery of a hot house in warm weather during summer's onset and were seasonally populated by the well-to-do.

They eventually became early vacation spots with the counter-Victorian work ethic 'rationale' of health as an excuse to have fun and mix with one's peers in recreation.

The concepts of vacationing, tourism, and travel became less the property of the old monied classes and more shared by an increasing population base of those who could afford holiday trips, like the rich.

Thus, the spas began attracting more local patrons and those from afar when the burgeoning numbers could take advantage of the automobile and the now extensive railways throughout most of Europe and the United States.