All posts by Giuseppe Verde

A past Physiotherapist in the Sciacca Spa, Giuseppe Verde has developed a scientific interest which led him to the publication of Fisioterapia e Riabilitazione alle Terme (Spa Physiotherapy and Rehabilitation) in 1998. In the same year he was a participant of Cura Aquarum in Sicilia, an international meeting that took place in Siracusa where he reported on 'Ancient hydrothermal practices in the territory of Sciacca (Aquas Labodes). Giuseppe published several articles on different reviews about the history of the Sciacca Spa and the rehabilitation practiced in it. In 2000, Giuseppe published Il termalismo di Sciacca dalla preistoria al XX secolo (Spa topics in Sciacca from prehistoric times to the XX century), as a result of a systematic survey on the various spa aspects in this Sicilian town. In 2004, he published Historiography of the Sciacca Spa. Four thousand years in the most ancient spa area of Sicily. In 2019, Antipodes Publishers in Palermo issued his book on Antiche Terme di Sicilia (The ancient Spas of Sicily).

A Micro History of Physiotherapy in Italy

If we accept the etymology of physiotherapy as phìsis (natural) therapy, one of the oldest practice might seen in be the use of vapour grottoes in the territory of Sciacca (South of Italy) since the 5th century A.D. In Roman times, massage was a remedial practice carried out by fricatores

Were Ancient Spas Precursors for Today’s Massage and Exercise?

Balnea was the name of the ancient spas that would offer any bath and body services such as massage. This characterized both Greek and Roman spas for a long time. In the imperial times, the Roman balnea changed their name into thermae and there worked different figures such as –

The therapeutic use of hot and humid grottoes

A town on the south-western coast of Sicily, Sciacca, has developed a peculiar history in the use of thermo-mineral waters and vapour grottoes since high antiquity. Today, its geo-thermal area is still marked by two streams, the Carabollace on the eastern side and Carrozza on the western, which receive their

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