Mineral Waters of San Miguel de los Baños . Waters (from underground basins, springs or rivers) of the valley are special, since they spring from an open fault between the volcanic rocks (the most important mineral-medicinal geological fault of the Matanzas Province). These waters come from underground layers of the earth that are found, which are rich in different mineral components and allow their use in therapeutics such as baths, inhalations, irrigations, and heating.
Summary
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- 1 Historical Review
- 2 Features
- 1 Scientific confirmation of the properties of the local waters
- 3 Effects of the Mineral Waters of the San Miguel de los Baños Springs on the human body
- 4 Other Springs with Mineral Waters and San Miguel de los Baños Water Sources
- 5 Curiosities
- 6 Sources
Historical review
Since ancient times, ancient civilizations used the bathroom as a therapeutic measure or as an instance to socialize. The oldest finds of buildings dedicated to this purpose date from before 2000 BCE in India .
The bath was seen as a social event, this led to the appearance of different types of thermal or medicinal spas, which also had a strong symbolic-sacred meaning. It is described in the literature that the most famous public baths built in Rome were those of Caracalla and Diocletian .
Since the times of slavery in Cuba , which inhabited nearby areas, of what is today the town of San Miguel de los Baños (Jovellanos) , the waters of this place were spoken of, either by the legend: El negro de la cave (a black slave named Miguel, who took refuge in one of the caves in the area, hid in the cave during the day, where no one would see him and every night he went out to look for food, bathed and drank from the waters of the springs, achieving over time, to his own amazement, the healing of the sores he had on his body and the recovery of his digestive ailments). Where versions were created that explain that the slave Miguel himself ( El Nefgro de la Cueva) after cured, he returns to the sugar mill, introduces himself to the owner and he went to the place where he told him the springs were, interested in their effectiveness, he plans to send samples of the water to Spain later , to be subjected to various analyzes. Long before 1863 , in view of the therapeutic efficiency, valued by the Legend or the History of Negro Miguel in past centuries, when Count La Diana proceeded to send samples of the waters to Spain for their chemical analysis, it is verified that the composition from the waters of Los Manantiales (located in what is today La Finca San Vicente in the town of San Miguel de los Baños (Jovellanos) was:iron , calcium , magnesium and sulfides. Many owners of nearby sugar mills proceeded to send sick slaves, in the so-called dead time (the sugar harvest is over), to the aforementioned springs, which notably recovered their health in small huts; later, better homes were built. conditions for the use of owners and relatives.
features
There are different mineral waters, according to their geological origin. The type of terrain from which they appear is one of the main differences between them. The elements most commonly found in mineral waters are iron, calcium, magnesium, and sulfides.
Mineral waters of the valley named San Miguel de los Baños (Jovellanos) are special, since they spring from an open fault between the volcanic rocks (the most important mineral-medicinal geological fault of the Matanzas Province ). These waters come from underground layers of the earth that are found, which are rich in different mineral components and allow their use in therapeutics such as baths, inhalations, irrigations, and heating.
The Geographical Characteristics of San Miguel de los Baños (Jovellanos) greatly influence its climatic conditions, its winds, its soils, its waters, etc.
Scientific confirmation of the properties of the local waters
In 1868 , Doctor Joaquín Fernández de Ahelle (Professor of the Faculty of Pharmacy of the University of Havana ) and later in 1894 , the Matanzas Provincial Council , carried out examinations of the Mineral Waters of the Manantiales de San Miguel de los Baños (Jovellanos) , scientifically confirming that they contain:
- 60% Minerals.
- Sulfur in colloidal state.
- They are also radioactive, alkaline, bicarbonate.
Effects of the Mineral Waters of the San Miguel de los Baños Springs on the human body
- They are excellent for the digestive and urinary tracts, to combat anemia , gastralgia, dyspepsia , diabetes, urticaria, chlorosis, nephritis, neurasthenia, etc.
The action of the Baths are of great benefit, due to their therapeutic effects, recognized by medical science, as a true tonic, on the nervous system, circulation, liver, kidneys and respiration.
- Repeated bathing (especially in periods of 3 to 4 weeks) can help normalize the functions of the endocrine glands , as well as the general functioning of the autonomic nervous system of the body. There is also an improvement and stimulation of the immune system, mental relaxation, endorphin production and regulation of glandular functions. Many of these effects are due to the body’s consumption of minerals such as Carbon Dioxide , Sulfur , Calcium, and Magnesium .
- There are skin diseases that can have a marked improvement by bathing in these waters (especially due to its sulfur content). Diseases that benefit most are psoriasis, dermatitis and diseases by fungi . On numerous occasions they also help to heal wounds and other skin lesions.
- Chronic diseases benefit from the use of balneotherapy.
- The inhabitants of the town (in great percentage), usually carry these waters daily to their residences (mainly to drink or wash specific areas), since they have provided them with different benefits to their health, in addition to appearing exquisite for their consumption (some A while after being refrigerated, no mineral odor is even perceived in these, as in the moment that they emerge from the bowels of volcanic rocks, when you feel their virgin odors.
- They are transported exactly from a Springs Sector, which is located in the area behind the Gran Hotel Balneario de San Miguel de los Baños (which although the Hotel is currently closed and the Springs Sector does not exactly preserve their original state fully), they can enjoy free of charge, from the recognized waters of the different springs that gush and run uninterrupted.
Other Springs with Mineral Waters and San Miguel de los Baños Water Sources
Distant to these, already mentioned, approximately 5 kilometers, located at the foot of the Loma La Paila , there are other springs, with strongly sulfurous waters, which have also acquired national and international renown for their therapeutic merits. Also from the foothills of Loma La Paila, springs, at a height of 5 meters, a Salto de Agua (the waterfall of the La Paila corner), which constitutes the source of a stream, which a few meters away becomes a tributary of the Santa Ana de los Caballeros River and later a tributary of the Copey River. The waters of the Copey River, flow from the Southwest of the Valley, through the center and Southeast of it, towards the East and Northeast, this river has walls in which hard grayish limestone is observed, this river collects the waters of this prodigious Valley , as well as the Yince River , which rises in the foothills of Mount El Taburete .
Curiosities
Many places around the world have names related to this geological feature, some of them are:
- Baños del Inca district, city and province of Cajamarca in Cajamarca Region, Peru
- Aguascalientes, state, municipality and city, in Mexico
- Hot Springs, Arkansas, in the United States (hot spring)
- Las Máquinas, in Neuquén province, Argentina
- Oymyakon, in Siberia, Russia (water that does not freeze)
- Puruándiro, (in Purépecha place of hot springs) municipality and city of Michoacán, in Mexico
- Karlovy Vary, in the Czech Republic, “the spa of Carlos”.
- Wiesbaden, capital of the state of Hesse, Germany (Prairie Baths)
- Bath, England’s spa town (Baths).
The Name of this Town: “San Miguel de los Baños” is clearly associated with both the Legend of Negro Miguel, and the Characteristics and Properties of the Waters of this Valley. As well as for the Hotels, Spa and its baths and other benefits with these waters. On the wall that protects one of its mineral springs named: “La Salud”, there is a Marble with the following praise to the spring:
