Image courtesy of The Culture Trip
For hundreds of years, the waters of hot springs have been touted for their healing properties, and public bath houses could once be found across the world. Crowning regally over Budapest's City Park, the elegant yellow stone palace of the Széchenyi Gyogyfürdő, or medical baths, is a holdover of this bygone era.
Bathing rituals are deeply rooted in the culture of the area, going all the way back to the days of Roman rule and flourishing further in the Ottoman era, and remains of ancient baths can still be found across Hungary. What is now the lavish Széchenyi (say-cheh-nyee) baths began as a simple stone-walled bath known as the Artesian Bath, built in 1881 and fed by a small artesian well. This was so popular that the city soon decided to build a larger bathing palace — the Széchenyi baths, named for politician and writer Count Istvan Széchenyi, known as "the Greatest Hungarian." It took 10 years for mining engineer Vilmos Zsigmondy to find and drill the 970-meter deep geo-thermal well, but the baths finally opened in 1913. The response was, to put it mildly, enthusiastic — 200,000 people visited in 1913, booming to over 890,000 by 1919. Following this wild success, the baths were expanded in 1927, adding outdoor thermal baths and an open-air swimming pool, and a deeper well was drilled in 1936-38. At 1256 meters deep, the new well (still currently in use) supplies roughly 3500 liters of hot water per minute. Though the baths were damaged in the siege of Budapest during World War II and neglected during the Communist era, falling into disrepair, recent years have seen several restorations. With the end of Soviet rule in 1989, Széchenyi was opened to foreign visitors, and the site is now a major tourist attraction.
Image courtesy of Széchenyi Baths.
Image courtesy of The Culture Trip
With 18 pools, the neo-Baroque palace designed by Gyozo Czigler is one of the largest spa complexes in Europe. Water motifs and allegories abound, from elegant mermaid statues to intricate mosaics of water monsters, fish, swans, and shells. In an attempt to recreate the experience of the beach in the city center, the pools were originally surrounded by sand (though this was replaced by stone in 1985). The wings of the palace stretch out in a symmetrical design, originally with identical bathing pools and facilities for men and women (the baths are now mixed). Despite the old-time grandeur of the palace's marble columns and ornate décor, the baths have moved into the modern era with new attractions such as weekend spa parties, a Beer Spa, and even a rooftop spa called Palm House with a glass roof and real palm trees. Moreover, the water from the baths is now recycled into an artificial lake in City Park, as well as into Budapest Zoo (the lucky hippos even get their own geothermal waters!). Though perhaps now used more for fun than healing, the elegant marble pools, soaring ceilings, and steam floating up lazily from serene waters still create an experience like none other.
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Images courtesy of The Culture Trip