Not only necessity, but sheer pleasure. Our ancestors, naturally, could not enjoy the blessings of hospitality. Perhaps that is why we are in constant search of that Lost Paradise. We are willing to pay a staggering amount of our income to travel and enjoy places and services we think are Paradise like. For instance, The projection is This process produced and developed an industry we describe today as Hospitality. How did all started? To pinpoint a unique beginning in the history of tourism is rather a difficult task.
We tend to believe that all human civilizations from oldest Sumerian’s down to present day, have cultivated the quality of being hospitable with a foreign traveler. The reality is a little bit more complex though.
The original hotels: Ancient Taverns.
The very name ” tavern,” which in its Latin original, means a small wooden house built of “tabulas,” or blocks, indicates the very modest origins of professional hospitality. And we must distinguish, in the olden times as in the Middle Ages, between adequate hospitality, which takes the guest in overnight, and the mere charity which refreshes him with food and drink and sends him on his way.(1) Certain it is that at some moment in time, we know not just when, there appeared the Pompeian inscription over the tavern door: “Hospitium hic locatur.” (Hospitality for hire.) That was the birth hour of the tavern and by extension of the hotel as welcoming place for travelers.
We also know that the Romans, in their enthusiasm for travel, built first roads throughout the empire but also villas, theaters, temples, and baths at some of the most celebrated watering-places of modern days, like Nice and Wiesbaden. These places can be thus considered the original destination resorts. Note as well the fascination we humans have with water view places.
Another aspect of ancient hospitality has to do with the idea that by receiving strangers to your table you might have the blessings to host a divine messenger. ” Et mensag credere adesse deos,” wrote roman poet Ovidius. Hence the sign of an angel hanged outside the taverns and inns. Moreover, painted and carved animal images served as a sign for the inns and taverns throughout ancient Roman empire. The eagle and cock are the most popular.
Religious Hospitality
One cannot research the history of hospitality without mentioning the religious driven tourism. Beginning with year 1000 A.D monasteries and convents started to build inns in the villages outside their domains to host the pilgrims. Historical records shows Martin Luther accepting this type of hospitality on his way to Rome and he stayed at the Knights of St. John. Mark Twain is writing about this type of monk’s generated hospitality in Palestine noting:
“Their doors are always open, and there is always a welcome for any worthy man who comes, whether he comes in rags or clad in purple. … A pilgrim without money, whether he be a Protestant or a Catholic, can travel the length and breadth of Palestine, and in the midst of her desert wastes find wholesome food and a clean bed every night, in these buildings. .”(2)
Obviously the hospitality of monks was not necessarily 5 star type, rather minimal, on occasions quite poor. Without a doubt however, clerical hospitality was in many wild and inhospitable regions of the ancient world sometimes the only way for a traveler to find rest, shelter and food.
Hospitality as we know it.
With the advent of Knights, Lords and Castles in Medieval times hospitality behind the city walls was already in full swing. We can even notice a gradual classifications of these inns based on the traveler’s social status or financial means. The city was offering hospitality to the poor pilgrim, tramps or minstrels, while the merchant guilds were extending hospitality to their own.
As the society made advancements, the needs and expectations of a traveler evolved as well. Initially the space to keep their horses and carriages was very important. Still to date some of the hotels or inns in Germany have kept the name Hof (court) or Gasthof. However the need to refined beds and quality food is described by Shakespeare in his travels or, Montaigne, a clear-sighted observer, who as grand seigneur had the good fortune to make extended voyages in France, Southern Germany, and Italy. Although himself rather a spoiled gentleman, he generally is full of praise for the comforts and elegance of the inns, especially in the south of Germany. The elegance of the Renaissance hoteliers was indeed surprising and has hardly been surpassed in our days of luxurious traveling. Not only most of the beds were covered with silk, as in the ” Crown ” at Chalons (France), for instance, but sometimes the table silver was richly and artistically decorated, as in the “Bear” at Kempten (Bavaria).(3) Quotations from “Old Tavern Signs” by E. H. Hall
Next edition: 21-st century’s tourism: from a place to stay – to a place to live.
Mihai Bote
