Abano Terme


Abano Terme is a town and comune in the province of Padua, in the Veneto region, Italy, on the eastern slope of the Colli Euganei; it is southwest by rail from Padua. Abano Terme's population is 19,062 .
The town's hot springs and mud baths are an important economic resource. The waters have a temperature of about.

History

The baths were known to the Romans as Aponi fons or Aquae Patavinae. A description of them is given in a letter to Theodoric, the king of the Ostrogoths, from Cassiodorus. Some remains of the ancient baths have been discovered. An oracle of Geryon lay near, and the so-called sortes Praenestinae, small bronze cylinders inscribed, and used as oracles, were perhaps found here in the 16th century.
The baths were destroyed by the Lombards in the 6th century, but they were rebuilt and enlarged when Abano became an autonomous comune in the 12th century and, again, in the late 14th century. The city was under the Republic of Venice from 1405 to 1797.

Main sights

Just outside the city is San Daniele Abbey. 6 km from the city is also Praglia Abbey, founded in the 11th century by Benedictine monks and rebuilt in 1496–1550. The abbey church of the Assumption, with a marble portal from 1548, has a Renaissance style interior. Noteworthy is the four cloister complex.

Notable people