Karlovy Vary The main attraction of this picturesque town built in the valley of the Teplá River has always been the fifteen local mineral springs whose composition is similar, but their therapeutic effects differ due to differing temperatures and CO2 content. They are particularly beneficial with respect to diseases of the digestive system. Beautiful colonnades, historical hotel buildings and spa buildings, the famous Grandhotel Pupp, but also the magnificent Baroque Church of St. Mary Magdalene – these are the traditional, typical, and popular backdrops for spa treatment and a wide range of wellness activities. Throughout all of Austria-Hungary, no spa was more important than Karlovy Vary. The world-famous spa was the pride of the monarchy heading towards its demise, and, of course, of the newly born Republic. President Masaryk visited the spa enthusiastically and repeatedly, and notable writers also stayed here, including Franz Kafka and Karel Čapek, as did musicians, among them Richard Strauss, Leoš Janáček, and the world renowned operatic soprano Emma Destinn. The renown and prosperity of Karlovy Vary was contributed to by the names of Becher, Pupp, Moser, and Mattoni, traditional business families, whose tombs at the city cemetery are the destination of many spa visitors even today. The city pulsed with culture – right in the centre there was a popular golf course, a frequented racecourse also contributed to the glamour of the city, and the interest in the spa was further revived by the building of an airport in 1933. ▪ www.karlovyvary.cz

Mariánské Lázně Mariánské Lázně has always been a city of parks, cafés, sweet shops, and stylish pubs, as it is to this day. Almost a hundred mineral springs bubble up here. Spa care builds on six of them in particular. Interestingly, they are not thermal springs, but cold mineral waters with high iron and mineral salt content. The springs differ from one another rather significantly, although they often push to the surface close together – that is also one of the world’s greatest balneologic rarities. Diseases of the musculoskeletal, excretory as well as respiratory systems are treated here. Mariánské Lázně was a representative place of the political and intellectual elite of the 1920s. Here, President Masaryk met with the Yugoslavian royal couple, King Ferdinand of Bulgaria spent forty spa seasons here, the French Foreign Minister Barthou visited repeatedly, and President Beneš was also a frequent guest. In the late 1920s, more than 40,000 guests per year visited the city. This trend was aided by an airport which opened in 1927. ▪ www.marianskelazne.cz

Františkovy Lázně The third smallest peak of the West Bohemian spa triangle is Františkovy Lázně. Nowadays, the spa achieves excellent results in treating women’s diseases, heart disease, diseases of blood circulation, musculoskeletal system, and digestive system. However, its twenty mineral springs are not the only sources of healing, which also include local mud, natural gas, and even the air itself, which is exceptionally clean. The remarkable uniform architecture of the spa lends a wholly unique atmosphere to the city. This used to be a provincial rural spa, until promoted by the Emperor to a city in 1865 and, most importantly, connected to the railway

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network. Miraculously, the city became a world-famous spa overnight, and quickly developed to cope with the growing crowd. In the 1920s and 1930s, when a visit to the spa was more or less a social obligation, Františkovy Lázně became the natural habitat of the better-off layers of society. The prosperity of the spa, which culminated before World War I, gradually returned. At the time, European medical circles considered the spa to be highly effective for so-called women's diseases and anaemia, and in these areas, the spa essentially had no rival in Europe. This family silver has been preserved, but the indications have expanded along the way. ▪  ww.frantiskovylazne.cz w

Konstantinovy Lázně A quiet spa town in a forest park surrounded by picturesque rolling countryside, that is Konstantinovy Lázně, also referred to as the fourth peak of the West Bohemian spa triangle. Clear air, healing mud, and the famous Prusík Spring with the highest CO2 content in the whole of the Czech Republic, have for many years been bringing those who require treatment of the circulatory or musculoskeletal system. The formation of the Republic a hundred years ago was an impetus for the rapid development of this small spa. Construction began, new villas and hotels appeared, as well as a swimming pool with a sandy beach, waterworks, electricity, cinema... In 1928, the main spa building was rebuilt and reopened, in the same year the town was officially recognised as a spa treatment site, and in the ten years from 1924, the number of houses had increased by a third. Such development was also in line with societal interest at the time, including from the cream of society. ▪ www.konstantinovy.cz

Teplice Below the massive ridge of the Krušné Mountains, there is the oldest spa in central Europe. The strong spring called Pravřídlo has been issuing from the bowels of the earth for eighteen thousand years and brings health and relief. The spa used to be called Little Paris or the Salon of Europe at the end of the 18th century, when it used to be one of the most important spas on the continent. The oldest spa building in the town is Beethoven, named after its famous guest, with a large pool with 100% thermal water from Pravřídlo. The Emperor’s Spa is another important centre of the local spa treatment with beautiful historic buildings, an impressive spa house from 1845 bearing the name of Franz Joseph I, and the Stone Spa, a neo-Baroque spa house of 1911. The water that used to heal Romans and Celts is used to treat locomotor ailments, including rheumatism, osteoporosis and arthrosis, nervous and vascular disorders, backaches and headaches, multiple sclerosis, and central nervous system inflammations, and the treatment of diabetes is also very effective. Local rehabilitation and prevention is important. ▪  isitteplice.com v