KARLOVY VARY REGION'S WELLS

Today, there are more than 30 spa treatment resorts actively operating on the territory of the Czech Republic.

The most renowned popularity has been attained by the Western region of the country or the so-called health rejuvenating “triangle”, consisting of the spa resorts located in the cities of Carlsbad, Marienbad and Franzensbad. The Karlovy Vary Region expands over 3000 km2 in the north-west of the Czech Republic. Its mountains and forests lie across the border of the Czech Republic and Germany. These forests have served for centuries as a link between the Slovak and German cultures, but also often become the center of conflicts between Czech and German people. The Karlovy Vary Region is well-known for its famous liqueur “Becherovka”, “Moser” glass and Karlovy Vary porcelain; however, the region acquired international popularity for its spa treatment resorts.Health rejuvenating triangle: Carlsbad, Marienbad and Franzensbad Carlsbad – it is a real pearl of the healing triangle of Bohemia. The elaborately decorated buildings of its resorts and colonnades, ironically referred to by the minimalist Corbusier as a “gathering of cakes”, create a unique complex of resort architecture, truly deemed to be one of the most prominent in Europe. The name of the city is intertwined with the Czech king Charles IV – the legend goes that he discovered the local hot springs during a deer hunt. Until the 16th century, the spa treatments entailed only a prescription of spa baths to patients, in which they were supposed to spend up to 10 hours a day.This procedure, causing dermal corrosion, was called Hautfresser – “skin eater”.However, medical practice at that time believed that the body thereby washed diseases away. It was only in 1522 that the spring water became recommended for internal use. Jan Becher (the inventor of the world’s renowned liqueur Becherovka) designed a complex treatment, encompassing internal consumption of the spring water, spa baths and walks in the fresh air. Hot Carlsbad’s mineral water (with a temperature up to 72 ºC) is rightfully regarded as one of the most potent and effective spring waters in the world.Nowadays the hot spring water is used for treating disorders of the digestive system, metabolism, locomotive system, parodontosis, diseases of the liver and gall-bladder, pancreatitis and oncological diseases.During the several hundred years of its existence, the resort has seen many historical figures, great musicians and famous writers. Bach, Beethoven, Goethe, Kafka, Casanova and Karl Marx, Peter the First, Maria Teresa all have visited it.It is not accidental that since 1997 every April in Grand Hotel Pupp European aristocrats organize “gathering of blue blood”.The entertaining program includes attendance of classical music concerts, casino, hippodrome, a great costume ball of the nobility in the Grand Ballroom of the hotel and, of course, the healing Carlsbad hot spring water.The beauty of the surrounding nature, the richness of history and architecture, level of service and luxury of the hotels of Carlsbad may rightfully compete with Baden-Baden, Cannes or St. Moritz. The proximity to Germany, airport with a large runway, hippodrome, golf courses and annual film festival – all this makes the city of Carlsbad one of the best resort cities in the world.250 years ago at the current location of Marienbad, situated 48 km from Carlsbad and 630 m above sea level, extended the Slavkovsky forest. The first spas appeared here in 1786. The healing powers of the local water to rejuvenate health became known way back in the 16th century, when the abbot of the Premonstratensian monastery in neighboring Tepla sent samples of the water to the Czech King residing in Prague. In 1808 the resort, where due to the initiative of the doctor J.Nera the first sanatoriumwas opened, was namedMarienbad after the Holy Virgin, and quickly gained its popularity in Europe.Today, the city spreads over green mountains surrounding one of the most picturesque European resort parks. The architectural center of the city is formed by a colonnade raised above the remedial spa springs – a true masterpiece of Neobaroque.The dome roof of the orthodox cathedral of St. Vladimir, erected in 1902 for patients fromRussia, rises frombehind elaborate facades of luxurious resort buildings situated on the opposite hill.Marienbad has also been a favorite resort destination of Mark Twain, List, Strauss, Turgenev, Chopin, Gluck, Kipling, Edison, Dvorak, Ibsen, Freud as well as crowned figures: the English King, Edward VII, Emperor Alexander III, the Serbian King Alexander; Italian Umberto II, a Persian shah. This city has also been recognized in the literary world. Here 74-year-old Goethe met his last love, Ulrike von Levetsow, to whom he devoted his “Marienbad Elegy” upon their parting, Goncharov wrote most of its novel “Oblomov” and Gogol started writing his “Dead Souls”.There are more than 140 mineral springs enriched with carbon dioxide with temperatures ranging between 7-10 °C within and surrounding the city. Marienbad’s mineral water is used in treatment of various diseases, such as digestive and metabolic disorders, diabetes, diseases of the respiratory tract and locomotive system, and nerve, dermatologic, gynecologic and cardiovascular diseases. Patients do not only drink the mineral water, but also take spa baths, emitting carbon dioxide which is also used for gas baths and injections.The third destination of the famous healing triangle is the resort city of Franzensbad, which was named after and founded in 1793 by Austrian Emperor Francis I.The resort buildings erected along wide carriage lanes of the English park serve as a rare exhibit of the Czech classic architectural design. Their yellow facades decorated with white columns are reminiscent of creations of Palladio or Saint Petersburg architects. The new resort has quickly become popular. It has been visited by the Emperor Francis with his daughter Maria Luisa, Napoleon Bonaparte’s wife, Goethe, who visited this resort more than 30 times, and Beethoven, who stayed at the resort in 1812. The healing properties of the local mineral water were known in medieval times and were used by the inhabitants of the nearby city of Cheb. The resort became primarily famous due to its remedial properties for women. The symbol of the city is a little sculpture of a naked boy sitting on a ball with the same name as the mineral springs, Francis. The legend goes that any woman who touches this sculpture becomes pregnant within a year.Jachymov – the first radon treatment resort in the world In medieval times, Jachymov was famous for its silver mines, reserves of which were really endless, and for minting of the legendary tollars. The richness of the city, rising along the hills of the Krushny Mountains within a narrow valley of the Veserice River, can be seen today in the renaissance building of the Town Hall and in the cathedral of St. Joachim XVI. The history of the city of Jachymov is closely interconnected with Protestantism – one of the spiritual leaders of the city was Johannes Mathesius, a student of Martin Luther.The resort appeared due to the contribution of Marie Curie, who found radioactive elements in the local uranium resinous ore. Uranium was mined here after the reserves of silver were depleted in the middle of the 19th century. Unfortunately, uranium is also associated with the dreadful history of the city. During the years of socialism, political prisoners of the communistic regime were sentenced to the uraniummines. Today, a sightseeing tour called the Hell of Jachymov reminds tourists of these horrible events.At the beginning of the 20th century, it was discovered that the water from the flooded mining shafts had a positive remedial effect on the locomotive system.In 1906 the world’s first radon treatment resort was opened in Jachymov. Bicarbonate- sodium-thermal mineral waters with natural radioactivity have a healing effect on the joints and spinal cord of the human body. The centre provides treatment of a variety of diseases, such as arthritis and arthrosis, Bechterev disease, joint endoprosthesis, arthropathia, vertebrogenic allergy syndrome, neurosis, neuralgia and others. Besides the high concentration of radon, the water contains molybdenum, titanium and beryllium.When taking radon baths, the body of a patient is balneologically treated by the radon enriched mineral water and by ionizing radiation created through decay of the radioactive gas. The active elements produced as a result of the radioactive decay of radon cover the body of the patient in a thin layer,which is then absorbed by the healing properties of the Dead Sea.The salt cave treatment strengthens the immune system, helps patients with bronchopulmonary diseases, colds, allergies and asthma.The health resorts located in the Western region of Bohemia have been helping people to rejuvenate their health for many centuries. They take their rightful place amongst other typical attributes of this Central European country, such as Czech beer and porcelain. The Konstantinsbad, Kynzvart, ancient Cheb, Tepelsky Monastery, Locket Castle, the Krushny Mountains – all these make up a rich legacy of the Karlovy Vary Region, which has for centuries attracted travelers from all over the world. The Karlovy Vary Region can be rightfully called one of the best corners of Europe, which will always call you back.Katerina Aizpurvit