Thermal Destination
Chaves
Chaves · Portugal
In the far north of Portugal, Chaves rises beside the hottest thermal spring in mainland Europe — water surging from the earth at around 73 °C, channelled by the Romans of Aquae Flaviae into one of the grandest healing-bath complexes of the entire Empire.
Aquae Flaviae, city of the Flavians
Emperor Vespasian gave the town its Roman name, Aquae Flaviae, around 78 AD, making it a key stop on the road between Bracara Augusta and Asturica Augusta. Under Trajan the Romans threw a great stone bridge across the River Tâmega and raised a monumental therapeutic bath over the hot spring — a complex closer to a hospital than to ordinary public baths. Buried by an earthquake in the 4th century, it lay forgotten for some 1,600 years until its rediscovery in 2006.
Two thousand years of healing water
For more than two millennia people have come to Chaves to bathe in the hottest spring water in mainland Europe, prized for its sodium-bicarbonate mineral content and its relief for joints and rheumatism.
The modern Termas de Chaves carries that legacy on today, drawing the same mineral-rich water that once served patients from across the Roman province.
Roman Chaves
Trajan’s bridge and a buried Roman spa
The fourteen-arch Ponte de Trajano still carries travellers over the Tâmega, its central milestones honouring Vespasian and Trajan, while the excavated Roman healing spa — among the largest on the Iberian Peninsula — is preserved within the town’s Roman Baths Museum.
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Good to Know
How to reach Chaves from Porto, the best time to visit and what to see in the Roman town.
Travel information →Where to Stay
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Hotels in Chaves →Booking
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View packages →Local Tourism Information
Turismo do Porto e Norte de Portugal
Chaves Termas & Spa · Tel. +351 276 332 445
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