At the foothills of the mysterious Monte Amiata, a mountain residents themselves call "damned and beloved", covered by a huge beechwood that climbs all the way up to the peak, which would be impossible anywhere else for those heights, runs little brook Fosso Bianco forming ponds, some bigger, some smaller.

Entering through the little road just outside San Filippo, you proceed along a common-looking dirt path, and just about enter the woods. Immediately you have a first choice. Going right, where the sulphur water gushes out of the rocks, leaving sculptures of white and hard bubbles and green embroideries on the water and the rocks themselves, inside almost clear and blissfully warm water ponds. Alternatively cross the little bridge (often with a tourist or two wallowing just underneath it, in the bigger pools) and turn to the left, where a path winds through the trees and takes you to ever more muddy completely white pools, where the water is no longer near scalding as further above but it is just... mummy right.

As soon as you leave the ponds your skin will feel renewed, deeply cleansed, an excellent remedy against skin rashes, fungi or simply to smooth out and purify. As you enter the pool you immerse your foot in this exceedingly pleasant and whitish sludge, and you get lost in mud, wild vegetation, warmth, berries... purest pleasure.

Naturally, for those who also want to experience the Romans' taste for the pool, comfortable, warm, complete with boiling waterfall and a complete sense of relaxation and a sense of high civilisation, you can access the beautiful Bagni San Filippo pool, and leave the wild for controlled and luxurious aesthetics.
(Photograph by Antonio Sferlazzo)

February.2002

San Filippo Thermal Baths