Apart from its breathtaking setting and perfectly maintained town center, Merano really became a famous vacation destination in the 1930s, when the local waters were discovered to have very unique healing powers. Overnight a spa industry blossomed and thrived here. Of course, in those days the spa business was centered around "taking the waters, " which involved imbibing and soaking in smelly liquids for a prescribed number of days. But today we know that those same waters can be used to prepare miraculous beauty treatments such as facials and massages, so a world-class state-of-the-art spa center opened in December of 2005.
