page_title: Thermal Spa of Peso
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Thermal Spa of Peso / History
caption_attribution_description: English: Termas de Melgaço in Portugal
context_page_description: The Thermal Spa of Peso is a 19th century thermal spa in the civil parish of Paderne, municipality of Melgaço, in the northern Portugal. Its thermal waters are recognized for their therapeutic properties to treat diabetes, the digestive problems, the respiratory illments and the osteoarticular system, attracting many visitors in the 19th–20th century.
context_section_description: The land was purchased on 8 June 1884 from António Júlio Esteves and his wife by António Augusto de Sousa e Castro, and was immediately registered in the municipal authority on 14 August in order to take advantage of the medicinal waters of Peso (by Félix Tomás de Barros Araújo, Bento Maria Barbosa, António Augusto de Sousa e Castro and Victorino Augusto dos Santos Lima). In their petition, they alluded to the gaseous alkaline medicinal waters similar to the public baths in the area referred to as Caldas, in the parish of Prado. Following a series of revisions, on 13 October, a society was constituted to explore the thermal waters, formed by Bento Maria Barbosa, Félix Tomás de Barros de Araújo, António Augusto de Sousa e Castro, Victorino Augusto dos Santos Lima, Abílio Augusto de Sousa, José Francisco de Almeida Fragoso, Aurélia Saavedra e Silva, Dr. António Joaquim Durães, Manuel Bento da Rocha Júnior and Dr. António Pereira de Sousa.
  An analysis of the waters was conducted in Porto, which found that the waters were alkaline and gaseous in nature. Starting in 1885, these waters began to be bottled in a wood shed beside the pipes.
  Following the death of his father in July 1889, Augusto de Sousa e Castro's heir, António Cândido de Sousa (and Castro Moraes Sarmento) landowners, obtained from the Ministério das Obras Públicas (Ministry of Public Works) a 15 year patent associated with the therapeutic waters of the parishes of Prado and Paderne. This move resulted in a judicial process by the remaining partners on 17 August 1891, that was resolved in July 1893, through a transaction. On 1 May 1894, the Empresa Santos, Sobral & C.ª was constituted with investment capital of 20 contos, of which a portion was conceded legally to the older concessions António Cândido de Sousa and Castro Morais Sarmento.
  By 1895, a hotel already dominated the land, constructed by António Guerreiro Ranhada, who had returned from Brazil and discovered that the waters were a therapeutic cure for his liver problems. The hotel was constructed on the land for 40$000, on the site of a minor quarry, with space for 80 guests and a garden designed by José Ranhada. Between 1897 and 1898 there were 731 registered guests to the thermal spa.
  On 3 July 1898, the Ministry of Public Works ratified the concession attributed to Santos, Sobral & Co., providing the company with all the rights to explore the spring in perpetuity. On 24 September, the prices were set at the spa, and the following year (14 September 1899), the company began to explore new springs, owing to the movement of visitors to the site, and consumption of the mineral waters. This influx caused a conflict between the company and the Viscountess of Peso, the adjacent property owner, and with whom the Santos, Sobral & Co. wished to expand their explorations. The Viscountess refused to be a partner nor to allow exploration on her property.
  In 1901, the Novo Hotel Quinta do Peso was constructed; on inauguration. Its first guest was councilman Manuel Francisco Vargas (from the Ministro das Obras Públicas) and his wife.
  On 5 March 1904, the Viscount of Peso solicited permission to explore the mineral water springs on her property. Yet, on 11 November 1904, a dispatch delivered to the Empresa Santos, Sobral & Co. a reserved perimeter of 15 hectares for the exploration of mineral springs, allowing the company to begin its expansion. These surveys were concluded in August 1906: by 1907, the flow of mineral water had expanded from 2,482 litres (656 US gal) per day (1904) to 8,000 litres (2,100 US gal) per day. The company decided to construct a pavilion in order to substitute the pump room that existed. This work, begun in 1909, was under the direction of engineer Couto dos Santos, for a cost of 43 contos, with testing of the water undertaken by professor Charles Lepierre and Dr. António Cruz Magalhães.
  On 19 February 1912, José Figueiroa Granja (from Vigo) acquired from José Joaquim Esteves the Novo Hotel da Quinta do Peso, and bankrolled it through the company Figueiroa & Ribas (partly owned with Galicia
caption: The changing pavilion in the thermal spa
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