Salsomaggiore Terme Liberty Architecture
Just 8 km west of Fidenza, Salsomaggiore Terme is one of Italy's most intact Art Nouveau spa towns, yet it remains almost entirely off the international tourist circuit. The Grand Hotel des Thermes, the Terme Berzieri and the colonnaded Viale Romagnosi form a set of early-20th-century Liberty-style buildings that would be headline attractions in any major city.
Terme Berzieri: The Crown Jewel
The Terme Berzieri thermal baths, designed by Ugo Giusti and decorated by Galileo Chini between 1912 and 1923, are the unmissable centrepiece. Chini — the same ceramicist who decorated the Royal Palace in Bangkok — covered the interior with Byzantine-inspired mosaics, majolica tiles and gilded domes that make the building feel simultaneously Italian and otherworldly.
The building still operates as a spa; you can book a thermal treatment and experience the interior properly, or join one of the guided architectural tours run on weekend mornings from the main entrance on Viale Romagnosi.
Walking the Liberty Quarter
A 30-minute walk along Viale Romagnosi and Viale Matteotti takes you past a succession of grand hotels, villas and colonnaded promenades built between 1890 and 1930 for wealthy Milanese and Parisian visitors who came to take the iodine-rich saline waters.
The Grand Hotel des Thermes retains its original facade and a bar that serves aperitivo under frescoed ceilings — order a Lambrusco and a plate of gnocco fritto and take your time with it.
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