Chaves Thermal Springs

Chaves Thermal Springs are located in Campo do Tabolado, in the right bank of the Tâmega river.

The thermal waters contributed greatly to the importance of the region during the roman times, as the name given to the town shows ‒ Aquae Flaviae.

After the Romans, the Thermal Springs were underestimated throughout centuries until the revival of the interest in thermalism in the seventeenth century.

By the end of the nineteenth century, apart from the open-air fountain (called ‘Fonte do Povo’), which still exists, it was built a pavilion where people could taste the waters more comfortably.

Picture by Fernando Ribeiro

From 1945, thanks to the incentive of Dr. Mário Carneiro, clinical director of Chaves Thermal Springs, the hot thermal waters began to be used for scientific purposes and important revitalization works were done, such as a new pavilion with beautiful glazed tiles and a modern thermal complex.

Nowadays, the Thermal Spa – or SPA of the Emperor ¬– has got a clinical sector, with medical and nursing offices, and two buildings – Flávia and Vespasiano – equipped with services of balneotherapy, treatment services of colon and rectum diseases, treatment services of airways afections, among others.

The thermal waters of Chaves have a unique composition in the Iberian Peninsula, they are hyperthermal (73ºC), soda-bicarbonate, meso mineralized and carbonated. They are used in the healing of muscle-skeletal and cardio-circulatory disorders, diseases of the digestive and respiratory tracts; in posttraumatic recovery as well as in the prevention or cure of stress, fatigue and anxiety.

At the moment, the thermal spa is closed for renovation and revitalization works.