Acque Albule - Le terme di Roma

Tivoli, Lazio, Italy

Location: Tivoli, Lazio, Italy
Water type: sulfurous, thermal
Temperature: 38 °C
pH: 6.5

Water profile

Thermicity

Neutral

38 °C

LowHigh

Soothing — neither hot nor cold, perfect balance.

Mineralisation

Bio-active

LowHigh

Rich in active gases or metals — a strong mineral character.

Buoyancy

Standard buoyancy

LowHigh

Soft water — natural, classic buoyancy.

SoufreSulfuresSulfates

At the gates of Tivoli, not far from Rome, the Acque Albule take their name from the whitish tint the water develops on contact with air. Pliny the Elder already described these sulphurous springs as the "Acque Santissime" in his Natural History, recounting how wounded soldiers were brought there to recover. Emperor Augustus was so fond of the waters that he commissioned his architect Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa to build imperial baths nearby, close to the sacred grove of the Oracle of Faunus.

During the Renaissance, Cardinal Ippolito d'Este had older baths built within the nearby Villa d'Este. Today's springs rise from Lake Regina and Lake Colonnelle, with an impressive flow of three thousand litres per second and a constant temperature of around 23°C year-round, making this one of Europe's most significant sulphurous water sites.

Insider tip — Acque Albule, known as Le Terme di Roma, draws on one of the most ancient thermal springs in the Roman world, used continuously since the pre-Roman era for its sulfurous bicarbonate waters that emerge at a constant temperature from volcanic fissures in the Tiburtine plain east of Rome. The distinctive milky-white color of the water results from suspended sulfur particles that give the baths their Alban name. The site is easily accessible from Rome by local train, making it a popular half-day escape for Romans seeking relief from city heat. The adjacent quarry lake where the sulfurous spring water collects naturally offers an open-air swimming experience in an unusual blue-white thermal lake setting.

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