Editing Spa, Belgium (section)

===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.