Not far from the historic village of Sortelha lies the ruins of a towering granite building. Visible just above the tops of some pine trees, as one approaches, and against the flank of the Serra da Pena, it can easily be mistaken for a scene from the pages of a fairy tale.
The origin of Hotel Águas de Radium, Termas de Radium or Hotel Serra da Pena, as it is also known, is, like all good stories composed of both legend and fact, and involves an unnamed Spanish count.
Its location near the mines of Quarta-feira, where the French company Societé d’Uraine e Radium had started extracting uranium in 1910 to be sent to the laboratories in Paris, connects it to the bigger story of Marie and Pierre Curie´s discovery of radium, which they publicized on 26 December 1898. Pure radium, though, which is a silvery-white metal, was only isolated in 1910 by Marie Curie and André-Louise Debierne.
Soon after the discovery of radium, but before any scientific proof, experimental treatments using it were developed for both serious illnesses, as well as minor ailments. Improved literacy, technological developments in printing and transport, combined with more disposable income and leisure time, enabled large numbers of the population in Europe to become interested in science and health, so when radium was touted as a medical miracle, it quickly became popular in treatments at health spas all over the world, as well as in a variety of everyday products.
Everything, from toothpaste, shampoos, creams, facial powder, soap, razor blades, energy drinks, water, condoms, suppositories and tablets were marketed with radium as a star ingredient. The craze of radium-based products was so great that many products claimed to be radioactive even if wasn’t true. It was said that radium shone ‘like a good deed in a naughty world’.
Somewhere between 1910 and 1920, a Spanish count, who went hunting in the area of the Serra da Pena in Portugal were told by locals of springs with water they believed to have miraculous properties. He took some bottles of water with him to treat his daughter’s skin disease, and as it cured her, he saw a business opportunity. Hotel Águas de Radium came into existence, had 90 rooms and could accommodate up to 150 people.
The three springs, Chão da Pena, Favacal and Malhada, also known as Curie 1, 2 and 3, which originated in the mines of Quarta-feira, served the thermal establishment. Their water passed in a zigzag pattern through a channel filled with mud, which was removed after an appropriate time to perform treatments with. Another two springs, Lusitânia and Milagrosa, served a bottling plant.
Said to invigorate or cure chronic diseases like rheumatism, arthritis, gout, sciatica, ovarian pain, hay fever, and constipation, radium found its way into various medical treatments and beauty products.
A line of cosmetics, Tho-Radia, named after the radioactive elements thorium and radium it contained, promised to “improve circulation, firm muscle tissue, reduce fat and smooth wrinkles”, and offered lipsticks, eyeshadows, and face creams.
An example of a treatment which became known as liquid sunshine therapy, combined radium, water and the health-giving properties of light. The patient would drink a mixture of water and quinine, and after fifteen minutes, to allow the fluid to be absorbed into the bloodstream, was exposed to radium to activate the fluorescence contained in the quinine. The theory was that the rays given off by the radium would penetrate the skin, activate the fluorescing water-quinine mixture, and make the body glow, bathing the interior tissues in sunshine.
Another popular product was an energy drink called Radithor. Branded with the slogan “A Cure for the Living Dead”, it contained radium and mesothorium, and claimed to be a cure for a variety of ailments from diabetes to sexual decline. It was a product that only the rich could afford, though, as radium at the time was the most expensive substance in the world due to its scarcity. One gram of radium in the 1921 was worth $100,000 (the equivalent of just under 2 million euros in 2018), while the total world production of radium in 1954 for example was a mere 2.3 kg (5 pounds).
Radium is highly radioactive, but at the time no one quite understood the destructive effect it has on the human body, but at least in the case of beauty products, the amount of radium present was so small that it didn’t cause much harm. Products that were ingested were far more harmful, as 20% finds its way into the bloodstream, and because the body treats it in the same way as calcium, it accumulates mostly in the bones. Because it is a slow killer, with symptoms often developing only years after exposure, it took a long time before people realised that it wasn´t the miracle cure-all it was originally thought to be.
As people became aware of the harmful effects of radium, including cancer and many other disorders, it was only a matter of time before spas abolished their radium treatments. Although the spa at Hotel Águas de Radium was closed in 1945, it still functioned as a hotel for a some years, changing hands a couple of times, before being bought by the current Portuguese owner, who wanted to restore and turn it once again into a hotel. It would take an enormous amount of money to do so, and in all likelihood an intricate amount of paperwork, so in the meantime, it is quietly crumbling away, where the only voices to be heard are those of the occasional visitor stumbling upon it.
NOTES:
# Radium is named after the French word radium, from the Latin word radius (ray), as a reference to radium’s ability to emit energy in the form of rays.
# When, in 1903 Henri Becquerel and Pierre Curie was nominated for the Nobel Prize in physics, Magnus Goesta Mittag-Leffler, a Swedish mathematician and member of the nominating committee, who was an advocate for women scientists, intervened, and Marie Curie was included in the nomination. All three won the Nobel Prize that year.
# Ironically the Curies had no idea what devastating impact radioactivity had on the body. They were often sick, but their symptoms were simply attributed to overexertion, and the drafty shed they were working in. Not only did they work with radioactive substances all the time, but Pierre often carried a sample of radium in his pocket to show friends, and Marie left a little bit of radium salt next to her bed, which shone in the darkness. Today, if one wants to consult the three black notebooks, kept at the Bibliothèque Nationale, in which their work from December 1897 to 1900 were recorded, one has to sign a certificate that states one does so at one´s own risk, as it takes 1,620 years for the activity of radium to be reduced to a half.
# After Pierre Curie died in 1906 (being run over by a horse-drawn carriage) Marie became the first woman ever appointed as a lecturer at the Sorbonne University in Paris. In 1908 she was appointed to the position of professor at the Sorbonne. Another first. In 1911 she was awarded the Nobel Prize for Chemistry, making her the first woman to receive two Nobel Prizes. Marie´s work opened up a new field of study in the form of radioactivity.
# Marie´s oldest daughter Irène and son-in-law Frédéric Joliot received a Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 1935 for their discovery of artificial radioactivity.
# If you would like to know a bit more about Marie Curie, this is a fascinating read.
# If, like me, you tend to go down rabbit holes, this is an interesting book to read: Half Lives: The Unlikely History of Radium by Lucy Jane Santos
# Another book, The Radium Girls by Kate Moore narrates the story of the young girls, who made history by winning a landmark case in 1928 in America, changing occupational hazard law. They ingested huge amounts of radium during their work hours putting the tip of their brushes into their mouths to create a fine point in order to paint radium-based paint on the numbers and hands of watches that would glow in the dark.
# Listen to this podcast: Sunshine in a bottle. The origins of using radiation as a modern cancer treatment with Aimee Slaughter
Portuguese Words:
“Radium water gives health, vigor and strength.” – “Água Radium dá saúde, vigor e força.”
Written by: Jolandi
What a fascinating location. Thanks so much for all the detail. A couple of years ago, my book club read a biography of Marie Curie. Incredible woman, incredible family.
I am certainly tempted to read more about Marie Curie, Peggy. My research has made me even more curious about her life. – Jolandi
Radium in toothpaste and soap, and even in what people drank! Oh my, if only they knew. But then today many of us still use some products with dubious benefits for our health. And they usually have one thing in common: the claims that they are able to cure a wide array of illnesses. Speaking of the hotel, it would be great to see it renovated one day. But as you said, given how complicated the paperwork in Portugal can be, we shouldn’t expect this to happen anytime soon. But one can certainly dream!
You are so right, Bama. We often use products based on wild claims instead of scientific evidence, which could be potentially harmful to our health. I guess as a species we tend to become easily swept up in the latest craze. I almost doubt that the hotel will ever be rebuilt, but who knows. – Jolandi
This was absolutely remarkable and fascinating. Your photography simply turns the place into a fairy castle, as you suggested at the top. What a marvelous, exciting story you intertwined with the images. I am pleased to hear how hard Marie Curie worked at self-advocacy, which must be why we all know her name today. I had heard of the Radium Girls before, through my kid, Kellen, who wrote a report about them in college and asked me to proofread it. So many of the perspectives you show us here made me want to explore this abandoned spa hotel for myself. It looks as though visitors do not find their way to it very often, and that must make it seem even more magical. So wonderful. I love this post.
Thank you, Crystal. I love that Kellen wrote a report on the Radium Girls in college, and you are linked in this way to the story. I love visiting and photographing abandoned buildings, and I was both surprised and delighted to find the connection to a much bigger story. You are right that it isn’t often visited. Unless you know where it is, or stumble upon it, you won’t find it, as it is strictly speaking private property. – Jolandi
A beautiful place: it must have been magnificent back when it was a posh spa, though the decay and emptiness make it look eerie now. Can people walk in and visit during the day (not sure if I would want to be there at night!) or is this mostly an “explore at your own risk” location?
My father had one of those radium-painted glow in the dark watches, issued by the US Army when he was an MP guarding trains in Antwerp. By the time I was old enough to examine it however, the glow had mostly faded—fortunately! I don’t think Dad suffered any ill effects from wearing the watch for 15 years (things really were made to last back then), but I suppose that was nothing compared to the exposure suffered by the women working at the watch factory. Your story about radium does make me wonder now how many things we think are harmless or are beneficial for health are actually harmful in the long term!
It is strictly speaking private property, Hangaku, so definitely visit and explore at your own risk.
How interesting that your dad owned one of those watches, and you are in that way connected to this story. I think you are right to wonder about how many things we think is beneficial now, will turn out not to be. At least the medical world has improved in that research and clinical trials are necessary before treatments can be performed. – Jolandi
What a fabulous place! Thank you so much for all the information and your beautiful photographs, Jolandi.
I’m glad I could share this fascinating place with you, Clare. – Jolandi
This looks to be straight out of a fairy tale, the Hotel Águas de Radium looks so regal and beautiful even in its diapolated state. The macro photos of the wood, deterioration, and broken windows also match the history you give of the place… what a history, and your post takes us through this ride: fascination of the discovery of radium and excitement of this “new element” but then all that glitters is not gold, and I enjoyed reading about this history I did not know. I think after you finish your rennovation of your qinta, this hotel may be your next project, yes?!?
Your last comment made me laugh, Randall. I am such a sucker for dilapidated buildings that only the fact that I am not rich save me from being a complete fool.
I love photographing places like these. They provide so much detail that make for interesting photos. – Jolandi
SO fascinating! When I started reading, I expected “only” a little travel story … now I might have to go down that rabbit hole you mentioned and read some more about radium and Marie Curie.
I’m glad I to hear I am not the only one who tends to disappear down rabbit holes, Lexie. My curiosity can often turn writing what I initially think would be a quick post to write into a mega research project, where I struggle to decide what information to use. The world is full of interesting people and stories. – Jolandi
How extraordinary that you have been to a radium hotel. I’d be weary to approach, especially after reading The Radium Girls, just like I would never go Chernobyl. But I’m sure there is no harm done if one spends a short while there as you did. Amazing photos!
It is a perfectly safe place to visit, and even though radium treatments were given, the amount of radium present would have been minimal. The Radium Girls on the other hand ingested huge amounts of radium. – Jolandi
All the time I was reading this, I was thinking, I should recommend you read The Radium Girls – but of course, you beat me to that!
If I didn’t know that Portugal was “neutral” during WWII I would have thought that such dilapidation of the hotel was contributed to by bombing.
I remember being fascinated by Marie Curie even in primary school. You could say she gave her life – quite literally – to science. Still, she got to 66, which even though her terminal illness was caused by radium, was not a bad age in her time.
Still, the Curie’s were not entirely ignorant of what they had on their hands, as this newspaper article from 1904 demonstrates …https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/130993920?searchTerm=radium
Now, while you are on research bent – what about the use of arsenic for syphilis? And in wallpaper? And other health-giving products?
Thank you for the newspaper article link – very interesting indeed. And you are right in that it is amazing that Marie Curie reached the age of 66, not just because of her almost lifelong exposure to radium, but also just for the time. Oh these rabbit holes! Now you are telling me about arsenic . . . very naughty of you, Gwen, as I will have to fight the urge to read more about that. 🤣 – Jolandi
Oh my gosh, “Radium Girls,” simply took my breath away when I read it. Each page was just so chockfull of people’s clear unwillingness to believe in anything they didn’t want to, despite so many of the watch painters’ testimonies! And I was equally intrigued to find you have a tie to the radium history in your own neck of the woods. Thanks for this eerie time travel.
How amazing that you have read ‘Radium Girls’, Atreyee. I love how one can find historical links in the most unlikely of places. Which is also why I love learning and writing about these, and other less obvious stories. – Jolandi
How safe is it to go there and snap some pics? Thanks for the write-up. Very informative and lovely pictures.
Hi Enoque. Glad you enjoyed the write-up. It is very easy to get to and perfectly safe to walk around and snap some pics. I suspect you will love it, after I had a look at your YouTube channel. – Jolandi