A small historical reference
Geography: Spa is a city and municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Liège, Belgium, whose name became an eponym for mineral baths with supposed curative properties. It is situated in a valley in the Ardennes mountains 35 km (22 mi) south-east of Liège and 45 km (28 mi) south-west of Aachen.
Spa is one of Belgium's most popular tourist destinations, being renowned for its natural mineral springs and production of "Spa" mineral water, which is exported worldwide. The motor-racing Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, just south of the nearby village of Francorchamps, also hosts the annual Formula One Belgian Grand Prix and various endurance races such as the 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps. The world's first beauty pageant, the Concours de Beauté, was held in Spa on 19 September 1888. The town also hosted the Tour de France on 5 July 2010, when stage 2 of the race ended there.
In 2021, Spa became part of the transnational UNESCO World Heritage Site under the name "Great Spa Towns of Europe", inscribed for its famous mineral springs and its architectural testimony to the rise of European bathing culture in the 18th and 19th centuries.
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Population: 10 591
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