Pfäfers

Pfäfers, hot springs in the canton of St Gall, Switzerland, in the deep and gloomy gorge of the Tamina torrent, which joins the Rhine at Ragatz, 2½ miles to the north. They were discovered towards the middle of the 11th century, and have been used ever since. Patients used formerly to be let down by ropes, but they can now approach by a good road. The water (97° F.) is conducted in pipes to Ragatz, though there are bath-houses (1704) in the ravine. Near the village of Pfäfers (pop. 1628), which stands above and outside the ravine, is a Benedictine abbey, founded in the 8th century, but converted into a lunatic asylum after its dissolution in 1838.