THE HISTORY

The Apuan Ligures and their ties to the mountains   “A fine, dark, and strong race with long hair and deep dark eyes”. This is how scholars described the Apuan Ligures. The personage depicted on our labels is indeed an Apuan Ligure, representative of a people who lived a close tie with nature and the Apuan Alps, which provided them with shelter, food and water, just like our Acqua San Carlo.

Bishop of Milan Charles Borromeo and the first mineral water treatments   Accounts passed down by way of mouth relate that the Bishop Saint of Milan, Charles Borromeo, passing through Massa and in a precarious state of health, decided to go to San Carlo where he followed a mineral water treatment of Acqua San Carlo that was very beneficial to him.

Doctor Nicola Zonder and the first studies   In the early XX century Dr. Nicola Zonder recognised the virtues and therapeutic properties of this “extraordinary” water, as he defined it. Experimental and clinical studies confirm Zonder’s intuition about the depurative and curative characteristics of Acqua San Carlo.

Mining concession for San Carlo® Water   By ministerial decree dated April 13, 1931, Dr. Nicola Zonder obtained a concession to exploit the San Carlo® spring and, in the same year, established a first spa for hydropinic cures.    

The imponderables that regulate the phenomena of life, and their introduction into the organic economy through natural oligo-mineral waters   … It is essentially the experiments conducted by me with water from the San Carlo® spring (near Apuania – Massa) that I refer to. This water is remarkable for the exceptional poverty of salts it contains and its consequently low electrical conductivity…    

Production begins   The San Carlo Terme plant begins production with the first industrial bottling machines. Acqua San Carlo officially goes on the market.    

Mineral Water Treatments   Given this water’s unique characteristics, the National Health Service also acknowledged its curative properties, and treatments based on Acqua San Carlo have long produced extraordinary results in countless clinical cases.

Engineer Eugenio Alphandery and Plant Requalification   Florentine engineer Eugenio Alphandery purchases the complex and begins the plant’s requalification, including that of the Park. The restructuring was demanding and would last for three years.

Official Inauguration of the new San Carlo Production Centre   The restructuring conducted by the new ownership comes to an end: the 5,000 m2 park and the 1,500 m2 plant reopen to the public. The production of Acqua San Carlo starts anew and new perspectives draw into focus, some of them placed in standby because of the impending pandemic.a.  

Guided Tours, Fermento Vivenda, the Restaurant   The year of the official fresh start is 2022. With the years of the pandemic behind us, San Carlo S.p.A. steps on the gas. Thus begins the production of Fermento Vivenda, a fermented beverage made to an exclusive recipe by Tuscan chef Michele Martinelli. The Restaurant reopens. And in Spring, the guided tours of the park resume, accessible to everyone. The first cultural events are organised in the beautiful amphitheatre. And much more is still to come!

Acqua San Carlo® 1931: sip Wellness   Spring 2025: Acqua San Carlo® 1931 is available in pharmacies and its therapeutic properties find natural efficacy through hydropinic cures within San Carlo Park.