Under the welcoming shade of the large trees of the avenue, the comings and goings of people was continuous. People used to chat, enjoy the coolness, attend the concerts organized to make the stop in the new spa complex more pleasant before or after bathing in the pools and drinking.
In the huge park full of flowers, people of various origins sipped mineral water from the mugs distributed by the very kind Telese’s “acquafrescaie” (sellers of fresh water), called "garish" because of the ancient traditional dress they wore during the service at the spa. It was that sparkling and sulphurous water, with a unique flavor and healthy virtues, that pushed them to travel to the heart of Sannio, guests of the renowned spa that became known everywhere, in the span of just over a decade, in Italy and in the rest of Europe.
In that late nineteenth century, the water of Telese had won continuous awards, prestigious prizes in all the quality competitions in which, at the time, it was a "must" to participate: from Naples to Rome, from Bologna to Perugia, from Paris to Biarritz. Eduardo Minieri, the Neapolitan entrepreneur who in 1877 won the contract for the management of the spa, He took care to personally present the qualities of Telese's water wherever there was the opportunity, especially in doctors’ meetings, where they could better understand and evaluate the therapeutic characteristics. Thus, around the source at the foot of Mount Pugliano, the large bathing establishments of Telese had developed. And on a nearby hill the new, luxurious Gran Hotel Telese was built in 1891, built in liberty style in vogue at the time to give worthy accommodation to the guests, who also came in increasing numbers from abroad.
To facilitate them, in the early twentieth century, the railway line that passed through Telese was diverted so as to reach the entrance of the spa. In the twenties of the last century, then, the bottled Telese water even reached the United States.
Constant progress interrupted by the Second World War, that blocked every activity of the establishment, where some of the original structures were also destroyed, while the Grand Hotel requisitioned by the Germans, was transformed into a military hospital by the Americans with extensive damage. After the war a sort of re-foundation was necessary to reactivate the spa and all its services. Another phase of reconstruction was necessary after the earthquake of the eighties, which created the basis for the current reality of the Telese baths.
That unexpected gift of the earth
The thermal history of Telese had begun five centuries earlier, after a violent earthquake that destroyed the ancient Telesia and changed the landscape of the surrounding valley. It was then that the earth had begun to generously donate sulphurous mineral water whose useful characteristics were soon revealed. That liquid that gushed from the new source of the valley, was a panacea for diseases of the digestive and respiratory systems, for rheumatism and for gynecological and skin diseases. And soon his fame spread beyond Telesina Valley and the knowledge of its people.
Only in 1734 the water received its first publication, "De acidulis telesinis dissertatio" by Tommaso Bruni, the first of a long series in which its curative properties were highlighted with the related research and scientific acquisitions.
The mineral water of Telese, naturally effervescent, sulphurous-carbonic-alkaline-magnesian, gushes out at 20-21 degrees from the source, used as a drink or inhalation for chronic or allergic respiratory tract diseases. Indicated for circulatory diseases, liver and biliary tract, skin, digestive system, musculoskeletal and respiratory system, gynecological treatments.
In the Telese establishment, classified as first super level, there are two thermal pools - Pera and Goccioloni - with flowing water, a wellness center, a department for neuromotor and respiratory rehabilitation, a garden bar, an amphitheater, a restaurant, a park games for children and the source for drinking water treatments.
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