It’s just before sunrise, and the lights of Terme di Saturnia resort are already out of sight. I’ve been walking in the dark for less than a mile, through the rolling hills of the Tuscan countryside, in pursuit of one of the region’s wonders: Cascate del Mulino, a 3,000-year-old travertine hot spring believed to have sprouted in the Etruscan era. Save for a few other intrepid souls who are also braving the crisp morning air, I’m alone.
Arriving at the waterfalls, set just below an old stone mill, I drop my robe and rest it on the white pebbles surrounding the springs before tiptoeing into the first of the steamy pools. The chill of dawn on my skin ceases as I float in the sulfuric waters, resting at a temperature of around 100 degrees Fahrenheit. Soon, the crowds will arrive, but for now, I enjoy the oasis to myself, allowing it to both soothe and transport me. I wonder what it was once like to arrive here when the area had no resort or hotel nearby, when the Etruscans, and later the Romans, first began looking to the springs as a sanctuary for healing.
I arrived in Central Italy with Terra & Tu to discover the area’s wellness offerings beyond the obvious. I already knew the basics—that Tuscany offers some of Italy’s most exquisite wine, freshest cheese, and buttery handmade pasta. I knew its mountains were covered in tucked-away hiking trails littered with rows of olive orchards and lavender fields that produce fragrant oils and teas. But what I didn’t is that in the heart of the Maremma region—located two hours northwest of Rome, extending along the Tyrrhenian coast and inland to the Apennine foothills—are a series of hot springs that have long been revered for the presence of thermal plankton.
I learn more about the benefits of the healing hot springs while staying in my suite at Terme di Saturnia resort, a 124-room property offering over 300 acres of untouched nature to roam. According to the property, the thermal plankton are a biogenic treasure and harbor a wealth of natural minerals like sulfur, potassium, and magnesium. It’s why Romans vacation here regularly: for the regenerative effect this seaweed offers, proven in studies by Italian universities to act as both an anti-inflammatory and antioxidant given its high ratio of nitrogenous substances and amino acids.
Though Cascate del Mulino is an alluring site worth visiting, I have access to these thermal springs at my fingertips. At the resort’s center is a swimming area containing five pools, all filtering water from the natural hot springs. Each morning, I arrive around daybreak and select a sun lounger surrounding the central pool before taking a swim.
About 25 miles in the distance, Mount Amiata looms, an extinct volcano set between the provinces of Siena and Grosseto and the source of the hot springs. When the region receives rainfall, droplets begin their journey down its slopes and are naturally filtered through its lava dome. Though it’s believed to take around 40 years for a raindrop to endure the entire filtration process—passing through the slope’s travertine rock and fissure—and arrive at the hot springs, the result is a series of sulfuric pools that gush over 130 gallons of water per second.
Before setting off to explore more Tuscan towns and nearby hot springs, I soak in one final day at Terme di Saturnia. Within the hotel, I find a series of gallery-like images dedicated to the history of the hot springs. I read about the lore of the region, which says that one day, Saturn, the god of peace and abundance, lost his patience with the constant warfare of men, so he took a thunderbolt into the Earth, causing a river of warm water to gush forth and flow through valleys, mountains, and plains to envelop all men and things so that their spirits were finally quietened. Why can’t everything in life be that simple?
