The legend:
The name Aponos means: “to take away pain”.

The legend says that Jupiter struck Phaeton, son of the Sun, with a thunderbolt because he lost control of the Sun god’s chariot while he was driving it across the sky. According to the legend, the waters of Abano became warm when Phaeton fell from the chariot and plunged into the waters.

According to Roman tradition, the waters were dedicated to a female divinity, probably a healing goddess, the lady of nature, the goddess that determines the flow of life. The name handed down to us from the inscriptions is Retia. 

The history:
Abano Thermal spas constitute the biggest and most ancient thermal establishment in Europe. Archaeological excavations show that the area was inhabited by Paleovenitian populations.
The Imperial Era was a period of great splendour for Abano.

The spread of Christianity caused the decadence of the Abano Thermae, since the curative virtues of the waters were connected with the cult of the gods.

The thermal establishments were reopened during the predominance of the Republic of Venice. A second golden era was during the second half of the eighteenth century and the nineteenth: Abano then became a fashion for the high society of the period. The world wars did not spare the thermal establishment.

Today, Abano has returned to its former glory.