Ikaria Ancient Springs

The Ancient Thermal Springs in Therma, in Ikaria: The island of Ikaria has an abundance of the highly therapeutic radio-energized springs. They are regarded as the best in the world. Historically Therma in Ikaria has been a very popular place particularly for hydrotherapy ever since the 4th century BC. At Therma, located 2 km from Agios Kirikos, one can still find the vestiges and ruins of the ancient baths that bear testimony to the existence of the therapeutic springs.

It has a scenic bay and there is a small cove and a picturesque beach for swimming. The elegant white-washed houses standing next to each other are conspicuous by their fancy balconies that are replete with many-hued flowers that draw the attention of the tourists and visitors. The undulating hills at place. There are basically 3 main therapeutic springs in Therma. The hot springs have curative properties and can heal a variety of illness like rheumatism, arthrology, arthritis, neuralgia as well as infertility.

Therma derives its name from the pre-historic town of Thermae. In the antiquity, the residents of Thermae were popularly referred to as the Asclepians after the name of Asclepios, the god of medicine. There is the location Xalasmena Therma, found in close proximity to Therma village, where even today one can see the vestiges of the ancient spa. In the past, this used to be a seaside town innovatively built on a small cape and was one of the most popular spas in the Aegean. The remains of wrecked marble bathtubs along with a pre-historic aqueduct that has been unearthed from this area bear ample testimony of the place's popularity in the ancient times.

Regrettably, there are very little historical records about this ancient town and there is still a lot of discrepancy about the exact date of the town's origin. Archaeologists have however been able to unearth a marble Stele from the neighborhood from which one can safely presume that the town existed since the classical era and was an integral part of the Athenian Naval League. This town probably vanished due to a devastating earthquake in 205 BC.

Archaeologists believe that the seacoast where Xalasmena Thermae is located incidentally happens to be the spot where the ancient city of Thermae was located.