Fonteverde is a resort located in the Sienese countryside, where Etruscan thermal baths combine with holistic rituals and modern science in a Renaissance villa
San Casciano dei Bagni: a thermal oasis in Tuscany
In the heart of Tuscany, among the hills of Val D’Orcia, lies the medieval village of San Casciano dei Bagni. Located under the Province of Siena, San Casciano dei Bagni was founded over two thousand years ago by the Etruscan as a thermal spot. Indeed, the area is characterized by forty two mineral springs at an average temperature of 104º F and a daily overall flow of five and a half million liters of water, which settles San Casciano at the third place in Europe for thermal water flow.
Widely popular during the Roman era as well, San Casciano thermal baths welcomed guests of the caliber of emperor Octavian Augustus and Triaria, wife of emperor Vitellio. After the fall of the Roman Empire and during the Middle Ages, San Casciano underwent a period of ups and downs, until, in the Fifteenth century, they became part of the Granducato di Toscana. During the Renaissance, under the powerful Medici family, San Casciano thermal baths were renewed and became a favorite destination for princes, nobles, ambassadors, cardinals and bishops from all over Italy and Europe.
Fonteverde Lifestyle & Thermal Retreat
In the Thirties, the former villa of the Medici family was turned into what is today home to Fonteverde Lifestyle & Thermal Retreat, a five star thermal resort of Italian Hospitality Collection. Provided with seventy eight rooms and suites, the villa was born from a Renaissance portico built in 1607 by the Grand Duke Ferdinando I de Medici and is immersed in a park, where a triumphal arch reminiscing of ancient Roman aqueducts welcomes visitors and offers a viewpoint for observing the surrounding Sienese valley.
During the years, the Medici’s Renaissance villa and the thermal baths have been renovated with the aim to respect the local territory and preserve the original structures, while at the same time providing them with all the modern comforts guests may need, such as terraces overlooking the greenery, a gym, a driveaway, a charging station for electric and hybrid cars, a heliport, areas dedicated to pets and an outdoor swimming pool. This is covered in travertine marble and filled with fresh water to offer refreshment during the summer season, while offering a view on the surrounding countryside, with vineyards, olive groves and wheat fields.
Fonteverde restaurants: La Corte, Ferdinando I, Il Falconiere Bar
Moreover, Fonteverde offers to its guests a series of restaurants meant to make them savor the local cuisine under the guidance of chef Vincenzo Balzano. At La Corte Restaurant breakfast and lunch are served in a space characterized by large windows, white and cerulean interiors, and minimal wooden furniture, which opens onto a terrace overlooking the surrounding landscape. The restaurant proposes traditional dishes prepared with seasonal ingredients.
Ferdinando I Restaurant is located inside a Renaissance-era portico completely renovated, with large windows overlooking the Val d’Orcia, Viennese straw chandeliers, antique chairs and blush armchairs. Here, dinner is served combining reinterpreted traditional Tuscan dishes with wines coming from the resort’s wine cellar.
In the wine cellar, which is also a boutique, sommeliers accompany guests through a wine tasting experience paired with small bites of typical Tuscan food products.
With a style inspired by the colors and combinations of Tuscan architecture, such as the white of the travertine and the red of the terracotta, Il Falconiere Bar is internally divided into sitting rooms with windows overlooking the panoramic terrace. A counter lacquered in matt black and a mirror black grand piano recall the contrasting bands of the Romanesque facades. Here, guests can enjoy a juice in the morning, sip a cocktail for aperitif or end the evening with a distillate. Il Falconiere Bar is also provided with a terrace overlooking the Sienese hills and offers live music.
Moreover, Fonteverde has a structure for private events, The house of roses – an Art Nouveau building with large windows facing the Val d’Orcia and a patio overlooking a rose garden.
The Thermal baths in San Casciano
At the beginning of the Twentieth century there was only one thermal station. Now, Fonteverde is provided with a five thousand-square-meter spa center on three levels, connected to the hotel through a tunnel, and seven swimming pools. These are fed by water flowing from forty natural springs, whose therapeutic properties derive from elements such as sulfur, calcium, fluorine and magnesium.
Located inside is the Lux thermal pool, where the warmth and the regenerating power of thermal water are combined with the lighting, whose hues have been especially developed to promote serenity and relaxation. Located outside are the Hotel thermal pool and the Day spa thermal pool. The former combines the warmth of the thermal waters with the nature of the park, while the latter is provided with waterfalls that offer a natural massage. Half inside and half outside is the Bioaquam pool. This hosts a multisensory path made of massaging jets, underwater seats and beds, and hydro-massage areas, which takes guests from inside the room, with its glass window, to the outside overlooking the panoramic landscape of the Val d’Orcia.
Fonteverde: the SPA
At the spa center two different concepts can be found – the equilibrium medical spa and the thermal lifestyle spa.
The former is based on the wellness philosophy of equilibrium, which comes from Italian thermal culture and thinks of well-being as a combination of body and spirit. The medical spa offers a variety of wellness and diet programs, as well as medical treatments, with a staff composed of dieticians, cardiologists, post urologists, aesthetic doctors and general practitioners. The idea is to use proper nutrition, active lifestyle, and the regenerating and therapeutic power of thermal water to eliminate stress and guide guests along a path of awareness towards a new and conscious lifestyle.
The thermal lifestyle spa derives inspiration from Oriental holistic disciplines and combines traditional thermal practices with modern technologies to help guests regain harmony, balance and a connection with their inner self, as well as with nature. For example, it offers a series of individual and couple massages and treatments that employ ingredients from the local territory, such as clay from Crete Senesi, Rosso Nobile wine, chestnut honey, lavender and thermal mud mousse.
Guests can also choose among a selection of practices that combine ancient Indian medicine with the therapeutic properties of hot springs. From Thai massage to reflexology, from Shiatsu to Aryuvedic massage, the Indian Master Dipu customizes treatments according to his clients’ physical and mental condition.
Moreover, the thermal lifestyle spa offers beauty treatments, including an area dedicated to skin care and dermal rejuvenation with products from the professional line by Dr Zein Obagi. Anyway, Fonteverde also has its own cosmetic line, Eteria. Dermatologically tested, these products are formulated with hyaluronic acid, collagen, elastin, vitamins, trace minerals and stem cells.
San Casciano dei Bagni: a historical archaeological discovery
In November 2022 a historical archaeological discovery was made in San Casciano dei Bagni, not far from the Fonteverde resort. Digging in the so-called Bagno Grande, archaeologists discovered a votive deposit consisting of thousands of coins, ex voto, inscriptions in Etruscan and Latin, and twenty-four bronze statues of deities of Etruscan and Roman times. Dating back to the second and first centuries before Christ, these finds were extracted perfectly intact, having been covered and protected by mud and hot water for over two thousand years. The finds will be exhibited in a Sixteenth-century palace, a museum to which an archaeological park will be added in the future.
To celebrate such discovery Fonteverde created the package ‘Fonte della Dea’ (spring of the goddess), which combines wellness with a cultural visit to the archaeological excavations, in order to make guests feel closer to the people who used the San Casciano dei Bagni thermal station two thousand years ago.
The spa experience includes a two-night stay with breakfast, access to the therapeutic thermal pools, the sauna, the salt cave, the vascular path, the Lux thermal pool and the fitness area, and two beauty treatments. One, called ‘Fango Termale Elisir’ (thermal mud elixir) consists in a massage with a mud mousse, which exploits the benefits of the trace elements contained in it, such as calcium, magnesium, fluorine and sulfur, known for their purifying and antioxidant effect. The other, called ‘Fonte della Dea’, is a skin-care ritual for face, neck and décolleté made with thermal extracts, spring water, and gems and crystals used in the Etruscan-Roman tradition.
San Casciano dei Bagni
San Casciano dei Bagni is a medieval village and thermal station in Tuscany, near Siena. Founded by the Etruscan, San Casciano’s thermal baths were widely used in the Roman empire and during Renaissance, under the rule of the Medici family, and are now part of Fonteverde Lifestyle & Thermal Retreat, a five-star thermal resort of Italian Hospitality Collection located in Località Terme, 1, 53040 San Casciano dei bagni (SI).
Debora Vitulano
