Editing Spa, Belgium (section)

==History==

===Pre-20th century===
[[File:De merian Westphaliae 146.jpg|thumb|left|View of Spa in 1647, engraving by [[Matthäus Merian the Elder]]]]

As the site of cold springs with alleged healing properties, Spa has been frequented as a "water-taking" place since [[classical antiquity]]. [[Pliny the Elder]] (died 79 CE) noted, "There is a famous spring in [[Tungri]], a state of Gaul, whose water, sparkling with bubbles, has a ferruginous taste that is only noticeable when the drink is finished. This water purges the body, cures third-grade fevers and dispels calculous affections. The same water, put on the fire, becomes cloudy and eventually turns red." (C lib. XXXI VIII)<ref>{{cite book |author1=Pliny the Elder |url=http://www.masseiana.org/pliny.htm#BOOK%20XXXVI |title=Natural History |volume=36 |translator1-last=Jones |translator1-first=W.H.S. |chapter=8 |quote= |author-link1=Pliny the Elder |access-date=31 December 2020 |translator-link=William Henry Samuel Jones |url-status=usurped |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161229101439/http://www.masseiana.org/pliny.htm#BOOK%20XXXVI |archive-date=29 December 2016}}</ref>

The [[spa town]] grew in the [[Middle Ages]], in the oldest iron and steel centre of [[Liège Province]]. The ''ban Spa'' was created around 1335 and included two urban concentrations: ''vilhe of Creppe'' and ''vilhe'' Spas, {{convert|2|km|mi|abbr=on}} away. Prior to the exploitation of mineral water, the [[steel industry]] developed communication lines, which made it possible to develop the spa town.{{citation needed|date=December 2023}}

[[File:Flickr - …trialsanderrors - Spa, Belgium, ca. 1895.jpg|thumb|left|Print of Spa, c. 1895]]

As early as 1547, Agustino, physician to the King of England, [[Henry VIII]], stayed in Spa and helped give knowledge to the world of the value of the Spa water. In 1559, Gilbert Lymborh wrote of "acid fountains of the Ardennes forest and primarily those located in Spa". It was translated into [[Latin]], Italian and Spanish. In July 1565, the gentry of the provinces met in Spa under the pretext of [[Spa town|taking the waters]]. At the hotel "Aux Armes d’Angleterre", those present agreed to oppose the edicts of [[Philip II of Spain|Philip II]] as austere and intolerant; this led to the historic 1566 "[[Compromise of Nobles]]". In 1654, the stay of the exiled pretender to the English throne, [[Charles II of England|Prince Charles]], brought even greater fame to Spa. From 1699, a postal system was set up between Spa and the outside world.{{citation needed|date=December 2023}}

Since the 18th century, [[casino]]s have been located in Spa.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Casino De Spa – Bienvenue dans le premier casino de monde |url=https://casinodespa.be/ |access-date=2023-12-03 |website=Casino De Spa}}</ref> The town continued to grow as a fashionable resort in the 19th century, and was extended during the reign of [[Leopold II of Belgium|King Leopold II]]. Buildings such as the Thermal Baths (1868), the Pouhon [[Peter the Great]] (1880), and the Leopold II Gallery (1880) date from this period.

===20th century===
[[File:Spa Neubois 1918 occupation Allemande.jpg|thumb|[[Kaiser]] [[Wilhelm II]] and his staff at Villa du Neubois in Spa in 1918]]

During [[World War I]], Spa operated as an important German convalescent hospital town between 1914 and 1917. In 1918, the [[German Army (German Empire)|German Army]] established its [[Oberste Heeresleitung|principal headquarters]] in Spa,{{sfn|Laparra|Hesse|2011|p=69}} and from there the delegates set out for the French lines to meet [[Ferdinand Foch|Marshal Foch]] and to sue for peace in the consultations leading up to the [[Armistice with Germany (Compiègne)|Armistice]] that ended the First World War.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Foster |first1=Paul |title=Spa and Kaiser Wilhelm |url=https://www.remembering1418.com/spa-and-kaiser-wilhelm |website=Remembering 14-18 |access-date=20 December 2021}}</ref> The general headquarters of [[Kaiser]] [[Wilhelm II]] were, in 1918, the last place where he resided before his [[Abdication of Wilhelm II|abdication]] due to the German surrender. In July 1920, the town hosted the [[Spa Conference of 1920|Spa Conference]], a meeting of the [[Supreme War Council|Supreme Council]], which dealt with the [[war reparations]] owed by the defeated [[German Reich|Reich]] to the [[Allies of World War I|Allies]].{{citation needed|date=December 2023}}

The [[Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps]] was established in 1921, in the vicinity of Spa. Despite its name, the racetrack has never been located within Spa: it is instead in the nearby town of [[Stavelot]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=Circuit History |url=https://www.spa-francorchamps.be/en/circuit-history |access-date=3 December 2023 |website=Circuit de Spa Francorchamps}}</ref>

[[World War II]] saw Spa reoccupied by the Germans, but the town escaped the [[Battle of the Bulge]] in 1945 that stopped, luckily for Spa, right at its gates. The [[Marshall Plan]] helped Belgium to recover quickly. In the 1950s and 1960s, mass tourism gradually developed, diminishing Spa's reliance on the elite as customers. These were decades of social tourism as well, with an increasingly large number of [[Flemish people|Flemish]] and Dutch customers, while the [[Walloons]] went ''en masse'' to the Belgian coast in Flanders. Relaxation tourism replaced the thermal aspect of Spa.{{citation needed|date=December 2023}}

The 1980s and 1990s heralded the start of a renewal of the infrastructure and influence of Spa. On 17 May 1983, to mark the 400th anniversary of the export of Spa waters, HM King [[Baudouin of Belgium|Baudouin]] visited the new facilities of the Spa Monopole SA, the Henrijean Hydrology Institute and the Thermal Establishment.<ref>Extract from the article in the newspaper ''La Vie spadoise''</ref> In 1994, a new French song festival started: ''[[Les Francofolies de Spa]]''.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Spa |first=Francofolies de |date=2023-08-08 |title=Bienvenue sur le site officiel des Francofolies de Spa |url=https://francofolies.be/ |access-date=2023-12-03 |website=Les Francofolies de Spa - Du 18 au 21 juillet 2024 |language=fr-FR}}</ref> In 1997, the area of Spa-Bérinzenne opened the Regional Center for Initiation to the Environment, one of whose specialties is water.<ref>{{Cite web |title=CRIE de Spa-Berinzenne {{!}} Réseau IDée |url=https://www.reseau-idee.be/fr/crie-de-spa-berinzenne |access-date=2023-12-03 |website=www.reseau-idee.be}}</ref>

===21st century===
[[File:Standseelbunn Spa.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Funicular]] to the Thermoludism center]]

The old Thermal Baths were closed in 2004. In 2005, a new thermal center, Thermoludism, opened on the Annette and Lubin hill with panoramic views of the city. It is directly linked by [[funicular]] to the heart of the city and a new luxury hotel.

In 2007, the Spa-Francorchamps circuit completely renewed its infrastructure to comply with the best international standards, allowing it to continue to host the annual Belgian [[Formula One]] [[Grand Prix motor racing|Grand Prix]] 1, in addition to many other annual sporting events.<ref name=":0" />