Not everyone knows that the name of the thermal establishment is due to the presence of Tamarisk plants, which were found near the spring of water found in 1843. Still today, plants of Tamarisk are in front of the entrance to the establishment, and other younger ones have been arranged along the path of access.
The land, at that time, belonged to the Schmitz family, who made good use of it, building the first establishment. In 1897 it passed to the Baragiola family, who assigned the commodity to the New Thermal Baths Company. In 1909 the restructuring work began. The design was entrusted to the architect Giulio Bernardini from Pescia and to the Florentine architect Ugo Giusti, already a collaborator of Galileo Chini.
The present entrance to the Thermal Baths was obtained from the pre-existent farmhouse which was preserved and enhanced on the facade by a profusion of decorative elements. The building is rich in decorations in stone and ceramics designed by Galileo Chini. On the inside of the Reception Hall, among all the decorations, the coloured panes at the windows and the great sky-light are worthy of note, realized by the same manufacturer.
Another important decorative element is the elegant marble fountain with a putto in bronze and a frog, which is the work of the Florentine sculptor Raffaele Romanelli, situated in the small loggia which now constitutes the side access to the hall. The room of the Tamerici which holds the greatest artistic qualities is the original “Sala della Mescita”, later used as a coffee bar. For this place Galileo Chini designed the tiles of the flooring and the wall covering in 1910 and also two large ceramic panels portraying puttos and two pouring surfaces, transformed into the counter of the bar.
One of the most interesting elements of the external furnishings is the circular Pavillion which is on a small hill, connected to the square by two flights of winding stairs. It consists of seats and pillars in marble which support a small dome with arabesques in wrought iron. Tradition makes the Pavillion come from the villa La Capponcina in Florence, at the time in which Gabriele D'Annunzio lived there. A little further away there is a model, with bronze statuettes, of the Fountain of the Water Nymphs in Piazza Esedra in Rome, the work of the sculptor Mario Rutelli, arranged in this place in 1930.
Itinerario Liberty - Planning and Realization - Stefano Pelosi - www.stefanopelosi.it