The practice of traveling to hot or cold springs in hopes of effecting a cure of some ailment dates back to times.
Complex bathing rituals were practiced in civilizations. Aegean people utilized small bathtubs, wash basins, and foot baths for personal cleanliness. The earliest such findings are the baths in the palace complex at Knossos, , and the luxurious alabaster bathtubs excavated in Akrotiri, ; both date from the mid-2nd millennium BC.
Water therapy as a method for curing many diseases was introduced at first by in the middle of the 5th Century BC. The Sites were transformed to real hospitals of the Antiquity, in which the bath therapy was systematically practiced and was set as a basic treatment for persons suffering from a disease or for healthy individuals.
Greek mythology specified that certain natural springs or tidal pools were blessed by the to cure disease. In the ancient Greek mythology it is said that the goddess Athena asked Hephaistos to provide mineral springs to the area, so that could relax and regain strength after completing each of his 12 heroic acts.