But in the past ten years it has taken the world of tourism and architecture by storm. The reasons are various: stress taking the upper hand with many town dwellers, a new awareness for gentle and alternative methods of healing and probably also the model function of outstanding buildings such as Peter Zumthor’s hot springs in the Swiss town of Vals.
With the rediscovery of relaxing spa baths, an interest has also been found in the associated traditions. This is satisfied in the book‘Spa’ in a brilliant way. Colette Gouvion takes her readers on a journey through the baths and spas of the world, from the hot springs of ancient Rome to the Japanese onsen, the Russian banja and the hamams of the Maghreb. The author weaves historical facts, beliefs, hygiene and moral aspects into an inspiring narration about the culture of bathing. She describes how medical findings and the structure of society, religion and superstitions affected the architecture of the baths, and how these nearly completely disappeared during the baroque period in Central Europe, for example. Long upheld prejudices are also dispelled; for example, the story concerning the physical hostility of Islam. In Christian Europe, however, a true religiously sanctioned bathing prohibition brought about a hygiene disaster that, as Colette Gouvion writes, spurred the Englishman Havelock Ellis to remark that a Christian would rather let the constantly changing outer surface of his body bathe in dirt than run the risk of sullying the shining purity of the immortal spirit.
Although one would have wished a little more detail here and there, and the author deals with the great European spas of the 19th and 20th century more or less in a subordinate clause, she has succeeded in writing a visually stimulating and, as regards content, impressive work with ‘Spa’. That she errs in the final chapter by stooping to the depths of the do-it-yourself enthusiast and cosmetic industry, and gives furnishing, travel and shopping tips, must be put down to ‘customer service’. However, it suits neither the style nor the pretensions of the book. Nevertheless, this conceptual break cannot really detract from the overall positive impression made by ‘Spa’.