The Fortuna Spa

The discovery of the Fortuna spring, in the heart of the Pineta and not far from the Terme Excelsior, dates back to 1853. Sources from 1911 [1] define the park around the spring as “graceful but narrow… very neglected and in poor condition”.

The current building dates back to around 1912 and was built to a design by Giulio Bernardini, who was also responsible for the arrangement of the garden surrounding it. Bernardini in fact saw to the thinning of the woods, the creation of an avenue between La Fortuna and La Torretta and the replacement of existing vegetable gardens with lawns.

The building, rectangular in shape and on a single floor, was originally divided into two rooms, the first used for spa treatments, the second for bottling and packaging the waters. These were conveyed into large tanks, located in a semi-underground room, in which you can still read a marble inscription placed by the builder to indicate the name of the water, called precisely Acqua della Fortuna.

The building, whose windows and doors are adorned with travertine frames, is immersed in the greenery of a large park, currently fenced in which guests could, in addition to walking, practice treatments and which connected the various buildings. Among these, still existing, a small brick pavilion with a decagonal section that housed the public bathrooms.

Near the building you can see a statue, the work of the Pistoia sculptor Antonio Guidotti, which allegorically symbolizes The Water of Fortune, for the execution of which the author took as a model a young woman from Montecatino, Miss Emma Tacchi, and a tub with an allegorical figure also by Bernardini.

Due to the low water flow, the establishment lost its original function at the beginning of the 20th century to be used for different purposes. For example, between 1931 and 1939, the park hosted a minigolf circuit and during the Second World War the area was used as a meeting place and variety show for the troops stationed in Montecatini who needed treatment and rest.

After the war and a period in which it was used again for events in the summer, in the mid-1960s the administration of the spa granted the building to the Montecatini Academy of Art, which exhibited its artistic heritage there until 1966.

After a renovation in the 1970s, the premises were used for administrative purposes, as a place where documentation relating to the treatment of numerous insured persons was accepted. Currently, the building houses the Asvalt which assists the ASL in carrying out preventive examinations in oncology matters.

[1] La Lanterna of 26 May 1911

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