Editing Tourism in Greece (section)

=== Spas and thermal springs ===
Greece has 752 thermal [[spring (hydrosphere)|springs]]. Many have been classified as therapeutic by the National Institute for Geographical and Mineral Research. Several of them were known and exploited already since antiquity. Thermal or curative tourism was, after all, one of the earliest forms of tourism in the ancient world. In 1983 was founded the Hellenic Association of Municipalities with Thermal Springs [http://www.thermalsprings.gr/index.php/en/thermal-springs/geographical-search] Some of these ancient "spa resorts" were situated in [[Aidipsos]], known from the time of [[Aristotle]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.thermalsprings.gr/index.php/en/component/content/article/78-thermal-springs-presentation/central-greece/141-aidipsos-en|title=Hellenic Association of Municipalities With Thermal Springs|website=www.thermalsprings.gr|date=6 September 2013 |access-date=7 October 2017}}</ref> Loutraki, mentioned by [[Xenophon]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.thermalsprings.gr/index.php/en/component/content/article/80-thermal-springs-presentation/peloponnese/158-loutraki-agioi-theodoroi-en|title=Hellenic Association of Municipalities With Thermal Springs|website=www.thermalsprings.gr|date=7 September 2013 |access-date=7 October 2017}}</ref> Traianoupoli [http://www.thermalsprings.gr/index.php/en/component/content/article/83-thermal-springs-presentation/east-macedonia-and-thrace/131-traianoupoli-en], founded by the emperor [[Trajan]] in the 2nd century A.D., whereas some others are attested in the Byzantine period, such as the Thermal baths of Langadas [http://www.thermalsprings.gr/index.php/en/component/content/article/74-thermal-springs-presentation/central-macedonia/118-lagkada-en]. In the late 19th and the beginning of the 20th century these hot springs were surrounded by cosmopolitan facilities, namely hotels and restaurants, whereas several prominent members of the society of both the Modern Greek State and the Ottoman State (for regions still incorporated in it) invested in touristic infrastructure and private estates.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gODmkfh6iK8 |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211211/gODmkfh6iK8| archive-date=2021-12-11 |url-status=live|title=Sarlitza Palace Hotel, Thermi – Lesvos|last=TheKoProSkila|date=29 November 2012|access-date=7 October 2017|via=YouTube}}{{cbignore}}</ref> Thermal tourism became particularly widespread in the 1960s and 1970s, whereas in the 1980s it was widely supported by a social tourism program, which subsidized large part of the expenses for the elderly users of the facilities.
Nowadays, however, there is an urgent need to refurbish, restore and elevate these spas to modern standards and create an international clientele. Visitors, however, can already find high-standard touristic facilities in Pozar [http://www.loutrapozar.net/], in Aidipsos [http://www.thermalsprings.gr/index.php/en/component/content/article/78-thermal-springs-presentation/central-greece/141-aidipsos-en] and in [[Kamena Vourla]] [http://www.thermalsprings.gr/index.php/en/component/content/article/78-thermal-springs-presentation/central-greece/145-kamena-vourla-en], in Loutraki close to Corinth [http://www.thermalsprings.gr/index.php/en/component/content/article/80-thermal-springs-presentation/peloponnese/158-loutraki-agioi-theodoroi-en] as well as at Kaiafas, on the western shores of the Peloponnese [http://www.thermalsprings.gr/index.php/en/component/content/article/84-thermal-springs-presentation/west-greece/154-kaiafa-en]. A detailed [[List of spa towns in Greece]] can give an insight in the inexorable richness of thermal springs of the country.

{{wide image|20100728 Corfu island old town panoramic Greece.jpg|800px|View of the city of [[Corfu (city)|Corfu]]}}