Abano Terme (known as Abano Bagni until 1924; Venetian: ÃÂbano) is a town and comune in the Province of Padua, in the Veneto region, Italy, on the eastern slope of the Euganean Hills; it is southwest by rail from Padua. Abano Terme's population is 19,062 (2001) (in 1901 it was 4,556).
The town's hot springs and mud baths are an important economic resource. The waters have a temperature of about .
The baths were known to the Romans as Aponi fons or Aquae Patavinae.It is possible that the name is connected with the Celtic deity Maponos and the Greek god Apollo. Pliny the Elder, a 1st-century CE Roman author, mentions that certain springs at Patavium lack medicinal properties, in contrast to other healing waters in the Roman world. However, the 4th-century CE poet Claudian implies that these same springs do possess the capabilities to protect visitors from disease. According to Suetonius, a 1st-century CE Roman historian, the emperor Tiberius consulted an oracle of Geryon by Patavium for prophecies regarding his military campaign in Illyria. The emperor supposedly drew an oracular lot that advised him to cast golden dice into the sacred spring of Aponus. These dice then purportedly showed the highest possible number and were, according to Suetonius, still visible at the bottom of the lake during his lifetime. Another description of these springs is also given in a letter to Theodoric, the king of the Ostrogoths, from Cassiodorus.
Some remains of the ancient baths have been discovered (S. Mandruzzato, Trattato dei Bagni d'Abano, Padua, 1789). An oracle of Geryon lay near, and the so-called sortes Praenestinae (C.I.L. i., Berlin, 1863; 1438âÂÂ1454), small bronze cylinders inscribed, and used as oracles, were perhaps found here in the 16th century. The baths were destroyed by the Lombards in the 6th century, but they were rebuilt and enlarged when Abano became an autonomous comune in the 12th century and, again, in the late 14th century. The city was under the Republic of Venice from 1405 to 1797.
Just outside the city is San Daniele Abbey (11th century). from the city is also Praglia Abbey, founded in the 11th century by Benedictine monks and rebuilt in 1496âÂÂ1550. The abbey church of the Assumption, with a marble portal from 1548, has a Renaissance style interior.