In front of the Regina Establishment, in the luxurious Tettuccio Park, is the fountain of the heron, the symbolic animal of Montecatini Terme, and the frog.
The work of Raphael Romanelli
Created in 1925 by sculptor Raffaello Romanelli, the fountain is an allegory of the evolution of the Valdinievole from a swampy and unhealthy area into an area with renowned beneficial properties precisely because of its thermal waters.
The era of epidemics
Before the great land reclamation, the Valdinievole valley went through a very difficult period: between 1550 and 1756 it was struck numerous times by epidemics and famine precisely because of the thermal waters that rose to the surface and stagnated in the craters.
The enlightened work of the Grand Duke
The reclamation work was promoted by Grand Duke Peter Leopold of Lorraine, who is in fact considered the enlightened founder of the spa complex. The Grand Duke’s merit was to transform the cause of a territory’s malaise into its source of wealth.
The emergence of spas
In 1773 the first establishment, the Bagno Regio, was built, followed in 1775 by the Terme Leopoldine and in 1779 by the renowned Tettuccio.
The legend told to children
A cute nursery rhyme for children, written by Bruna Rossi with illustrations by Maria Chiara Sbolci, tells the story of Montecatini through the heron and the frog: “In that rather damp land you didn’t get warm with fur! It was a bit of a lonely valley, but it had a really diverse fauna.”
