The birth of Recoaro as a thermal spa – the only one in the mountains of Veneto – goes back to the year 1686, when Count Lelio Piovene, an intellectual of a multiform talent, came to Recoaro to try the benefits of spring water. Convinced by chemical analysis and medical evidence of the exceptional discovery, the Count agrees to disclose it. In 1752 the Lelia spring, as it is named in honour of its mentor, is declared a "public good" by the Republic of Venice, which enables the activity of hydrotherapy and the construction of the first treatment pavilion. This is the period in which the discoveries of other springs take place, and nine of those are currently used for therapy.

In the first half of the 1800s Recoaro already boasted of several spa facilities and an elegant hotel, which gave it the appearance of a typical "ville d'eau". An architect from Schio, Antonio Caregaro Negrin lead in 1873 to joining of various springs into a single "thermal park". It is a complex of eclectic architecture, the testimony of which has remained after the destruction of the last war, where the cottage of Tonello hosted Queen Margaret and her son Vittorio Emanuele in 1879 during their stay registered in the annals of the town. This period inspires one of the most famous events of the Recoaro summer, the Festival of Water, which in August revives the splendour of the Belle Epoque with shows in the Concert Hall of the Central Springs, costume balls and carriage rides, and with the carousel with horses and kites for the little ones.