CARACALLA THERME: TAKING THE WATERS IN MODERN STYLE

By CINDA CHAVICH

BADEN-BADEN – Here in Canada, where the “spa experience” has come to be known as something private, decadent and ultimately intimate, a trip to the steam room at the local pool hardly constitutes a day of pampering.

In the North American, nouveau spa world, a spa day means services – manicures and facials, rubs, wraps and exfoliants – administered by a team of beauty experts and masseurs.

But Europe is home to the public spa, and no finer public baths can be found than those in the elegant German spa town of Baden-Baden, a place where the spa not so much an indulgence but a way of life. And there is no place better for a daily dose of self-serve, holistic health and hydrotherapy than the massive and modern Caracalla-Therme.

LOCATION

Caracalla is the latest in a string of spas that have defined this Black Forest town since Roman times. Travelers have long come to Baden-Baden for the natural thermal baths, waters that spring from deep in the earth with the promise of health and restoration.

Baden-Baden’s setting, in the forested hills of southern Germany, has always drawn tourists seeking rest and relaxation – a “country” retreat to a city that boasts more than 60 per cent of it’s area is forest.

Ever since the great musicians like Johannes Brahms and Franz Liszt performed recitals in the opera houses of this upscale enclave, well-heeled travelers, emperors and kings, have come for its elegant entertainments, from gambling in the world’s most beautiful 19th century casino to watching the thoroughbreds run at Europe’s oldest and most historic race track.

Baden-Baden is a walkers paradise. A promenade along the oak-lined Lichtentaler Allee whisks you into another century, past the gilded gambling house designed in the mid-19th century by Parisian architects, through English gardens studded with rare ginko, tulip and magnolia trees, to the beautiful Baroque theatre. Pausing for a slice of classic cherry-studded chocolate torte on an outdoor patio, the relaxing melodies of chamber music wafting across the park from the garden band stand, you might imagine other early patrons of this civilized spot, from Victor Hugo to Queen Victoria.

The Renaissance-style Friedrichsbad (circa. 1869) houses the historic Roman-Irish Spa – arguably the most elegant baths in the city – but the nearby Caracalla baths are a more accessible spot to take the waters.

CLIENTELE

The Caracalla spa caters to both locals and German and European tourists, the kind that look like they might want to cut back a bit on the bratwurst and beer if they’re really hoping for health benefits. Families are welcome here but not with children under three. There’s a place for them, though – a children’s play area just outside the spa complete with child care, so that parents can relax on their own. Bathers don swimsuits for this co-ed experience, although sauna spaces are clothing optional spots.

DESIGN

Caracalla is both beautiful and basic – a shrine to German engineering and efficiency, but with a grandness that comes with it’s soaring spaces, massive whirling waters and pummelling hot pools. Spaces echo the traditional architecture of the classical Roman baths of Baden, but colours are minimal – natural buff stone, marble, clean white ceramic tile and glass, all off setting massive amounts of clear, blue water.

Named for the Roman emporer Caracalla, who came here to heal himself as other Roman’s did around 200 AD, this is a 21st century spa in an ancient location. There is 900 square meters of bathing space in this huge facility, indoor and outdoor pools, ringed with self-serve sauna, steam and treatment rooms. The main indoor pool area is a towering solarium, enclosed in glass and topped with an elegant domed roof. Outside in the fresh forest air, interconnecting pools have their own surprises, from “neck showers” to rushing “rivers” and interior “ hot tubs” of burbling water, defined by smooth, thick marble walls and accessed by wide, underwater staircases.

Built in 1985, the spa is modern and organized. You won’t find German matrons demanding your clothing here, but there are rules. The ticket that’s issued at the front door is a key card that opens all doors, from the turnstile gate to the private changing cubicles in the co-ed locker room. It can even be keyed to lock up your valuables.

TREATMENTS

Caracalla is all about water – thermal spa waters sourced from 2,000 feet below the surface. Invigorating, restorative and promising to alleviate aches, pains and other stresses, these natural waters are pumped, swirled, burbled and cascaded through all manner of devices in two outdoor and one huge indoor pool. Stand along the edge of the indoor natatorium, with it’s multi-level bubbling jets, and you’ll feel like you’ve entered a gigantic hot tub. Hold onto your swimsuit sitting chin-deep in the outdoor pool, as air forces the 30-degree water into a boiling mass, or dip beneath a fat tap, where a wide stream of water will knock the knots out of your shoulders and neck with its sheer force.

This huge facility is a kind of serve-yourself spa. Tucked into grottos and behind doorways around the main pool, you’ll find hot and cold therapy pools with cascading waterfalls to shower tight muscles, pretty and intricately-tiled aroma therapy steam baths where natural aromatic oils stimulate your circulation and breathing, and a vaulted solarium “sky”, complete with warm tanning lamps suspended like indoor sunshine above comfortable deck chairs. There are saunas of all kinds – a soft sauna with coloured light therapy, an “aqua-viva” sauna with sound and light effects, classic Finnish saunas.

BOTTOM LINE

This is a great place to wind down in a Baden-Baden spa without breaking the bank. While it can seem a little impersonal – more like the local Y in some ways than the personal pampering you get smaller spas – you’re not going to drop 300 bucks in the process. If you’re not tuned into the bathing culture, you may be a little overwhelmed, but just ask the staff for advice on how to work your way through the hot and cold pools, for maximum effect.

You can take the waters, steam, sauna, and sit in the sun on the deck with a tall refreshing weisse (wheat) beer, all for about $25. It doesn’t get much better in Baden.

CONTACT INFORMATION

The Caracalla Spa, Carasana Bäderbetriebe GmbH, Römerplatz 1, 76530 Baden-Baden

Phone: (49)7221/275940 or Fax: (49)7221/275980

Email: info@carasana.de  or Web: www.caracalla.de

Entrance fees: 11 EUR (2 hours), 13 EUR (3 hours), 15 EUR (4 hours) plus 1 EUR for every extra 1/4 hour. Groups of 10 or more pay a reduced price.

Open daily from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m., except Good Friday and Dec. 23/25.

©Cinda Chavich

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