The fall of Rome also marked a dark time for spas in Europe. The baths had become little more than dens of iniquity. With the rise of Christianity, purity of the physical body was less a product of bathing and more abstaining from infidelity. So it could be said that the Dark Ages were most likely smelly too.

With the fall of the Roman Empire bathing was officially banned. Spiritual cleansing was deemed more important than the medicinal bath. Some of the bath complexes themselves were converted to churches while some of the elite aristocrat class could still take advantage of taking the waters. People in general avoided going anywhere near bathing. It was not uncommon for people to go for years without bathing. Makes you glad you didn't live back then doesn't it.

From the 13th century on, the baths began gradually to come back into favor. The Moors rebuilt the public spas as their influence spread across Europe, the relaxation and medicinal value came back in popularity.

Fear of disease and a lack of understanding about how it was spread led to another decline of the public baths in the 16th century. Fortunately a group of Italian physicians recovered some of the lost information on the therapeutic benefits of water treatments. By the end of the 1500's two of them Bacci and Minardo had published articles revisiting the value of the bath for sound healthy living. Bacci believed that in order to truly benefit a person needed to be able to to lead a quiet orderly life in pleasant surroundings with good food and wine. Unfortunately that ruled out most of the population since they had neither the time for leisure or the money for the other ingredients.

Around the beginning of the 1800's, the value of the spa was being rediscovered and "Taking the Waters" grew to include more of the general population. Doctors were convinced that Mother Nature had a remedy for everything that ailed us in the form of some mineral spring. The medicinal use and principles of thermal water (balneotherapy) and Hydrotherapy were recorded by Priessnitz and Kneipp. Kneipp took a holistic approach to the treatment of disease. With major spas and resorts focusing on serving the upper classes, Kneipp put his attention on the benefit to the common man.

Hotels began to appear all over Europe and North America as interest mineral water from natural springs became popular. Every spa resort had its own village sprout up around it complete with theater, casino and promenades alongside the bathing facility. The spa resorts became the place to be and be seen for the elite and a place for the artists to get their creative juices flowing. Baden Baden, Germany was the most famous and glamorous resort spa in Europe.