BELGIUM ~ Spa - The Pouhon Pierre le Grand Monument ~

... Always a pleasure showing my own country... Spa is located in the beautiful lush forests of our Belgian Ardennes... the original town of Spa, from which spa centres all over the world took their name, boasts Europe's oldest health resort... the term ‘spa’ has come to mean any place having a natural water source that has healthy properties... must admit been here only once at the Tourist Office ( just for buying postcards; ofcourseッ) but never visited the "Spa Experience"... maybe something for this summer... Thanks for the lovely surprise Arnaud!! ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ He used nice old Belgian franc-denominated stamps ...

This monument  in the shape of a large octagonal kiosk was designed by the architect Victor Besme. The "Pouhon Pierre le Grand" dates back to 1880 and houses the largest spring in Spa, along with the town's Tourist Office.

It also offers you the "Spa Experience", a 360° film. You will be able to join migrating birds as they fly over the Fens, participate in the Spa 24 Hours race on the most beautiful race track in the world or even take part in Stavelot Carnival. The virtual reality makes you feel like you are there.

In the 16th century, only a humble niche housed the spring that flowed there. It owed its name to tsar Peter the Great, who was staying in Spa, on spa therapy, during the summer of 1717. Delighted by the results of his treatment, he had a black marble stele placed. A vaste canvas is hung up in the Pouhon's great hall, called the "Livre d'Or de la ville de Spa" by Antoine Fontaine (1894), which shows 96 illustrious figures who are staying in Spa, among which tsar Peter the Great, Offenbach, Marie-Henriette, Emperor Joseph II of Austria, Wellington, John Cockerill, Victor Hugo and Montaigne.

Stamp:

Birds
(01-04-1992)

The 25th Anniversary of King Baudouins Regency
(26-06-1976)