Italy and Slovenia Thermal Resorts Featured in New Rai 3 Show
In search of the wondrous source. A journey through the thermal stations that are part of Italy’s “top ten,” and perhaps also internationally, aiming to gather sensations, stories, and life experiences narrated by the people who frequent the inhalation centers or the pools where speleotherapy is practiced. A top ten with Sirmione at the top, followed by Bagno di Romagna, Ischia, and Termini Imerese. This is to stay within Italy. Abroad, the list includes Rogaska Slatijna (Slovenia), Karlovy Vary, and Marienbad (Czech Republic). These thermal resorts will feature in an upcoming television show, titled “The Wonderful Source,” consisting of six episodes of 55 minutes each, broadcast on Rai 3 on Saturday nights at 11:30 PM, from June 23 to July 28. The creators are Gloria De Antoni and Oreste De Fornari, well-known faces on Italian television for hosting innovative programs.
Details of the show
“We chose Sirmione and its thermal baths for their notoriety, as well as this splendid lake,” begins Gloria De Antoni, “which provides a beautifully evocative setting: I believe it was an effective and fitting choice.” Filming lasted nearly three days: director Antonio Syxty (whose “Erodiade” debuted in Milan on Friday evening), Beatrice Serani (executive producer), Alessandro Cogolo, Mariano Sabatini, and Laura Lombardi (collaborators).
“A day at the thermal baths starts with breakfast,” explains Oreste De Fornari, “then entering the Catullo or Virgilio spa. Here begins the core of the program: because coming here feels like stepping into a suspended time, there’s the lake, and many stories to listen to….”
Gloria adds, “All the stories are authentic, not fabricated. For example, we met a Friulian woman and her daughter at the Catullo, who shared their experience, and a retired general who recounted episodes from the last war. Essentially, the thermal baths are an ideal place to open up and tell many beautiful stories: it’s a place where you treat everything from rhinitis to the soul.”
International stories and filming
And what about the overseas thermal resorts? “No change in our plan,” immediately clarifies Gloria. “Same main theme. We will meet Italians, and in one episode, Claudio G. Fava, a film critic, and Giovanni Russo, a journalist, will appear.” During the last days of filming, the Rai 3 crew stopped to capture some images of Sirmione: Villa Callas and the Meridiana hotel.
A plaque on the wall of the small but charming hotel run by Caterina and Cristian Peretti commemorates Benedetta Bianchi Porro. The show’s creators also conducted an interview with her sister, Emanuela Bianchi Porro. It is said that Gloria De Antoni was moved when listening to the painful story of the future saint’s sister.
Sirmione’s return to television reaffirms the vital role the thermal springs play in tourism. In the two facilities—Catullo downtown and Virgilio in Colombare—renowned for treating nasal and throat conditions and for the prevention and treatment of rhinogenic deafness, about one million treatments are administered annually with 40,000 visitors.
Recently, the new Health and Beauty Center called “Aquaria” was inaugurated at the Grand Hotel. Alongside these two structures, three prestigious hotels with three, four, and five stars operate.
“In 2000,” explains the company’s management, “they had a good year in the hotel sector, so much so that we plan to extend the opening of the Grand Hotel Terme until next January. Regarding the thermal sector,” the management continues, “there’s strong confirmation of arrivals at Virgilio: the idea of receiving treatments during the winter is becoming more ingrained in the mentality of thermal clients.”
“The medical appointment booking service has significantly reduced waiting times, a choice very much appreciated. Catullo has been open for a week now, in the mornings and afternoons, including Sundays. The trend in these early months of 2001,” concludes management, “confirms last year’s positive data.”
