The city of spas
Along
the Danube at the meeting point of the Buda Hills and the Great Plain a
geological faultline is formed, where thermal springs of different
composition come to the surface. This beneficial feature of the area
was recognised very early by the people, who settled down here. The
Celtic tribes, who inhabited the region in the 1st century, named it
"ak-luk", which means abundant water. The Romans called their province
Aquincum, aqua also meaning water. They had long been familiar with the
luxury of the baths and built several of them. From this period 14
baths have been excavated in Óbuda. The Hungarians also
quickly discovered the medical effects of the water and took advantage
of them.
List of
major spas in Budapest
The
thermal springs were
used during centuries, but under the Turkish occupation of Hungary the
bath-culture developed significantly. Budapest still preserves some
baths of Turkish origin. After the Turkish occupation the use of baths
declined and only in the 19th century, when balneology became a sience
could they regain their popularity.
In
Budapest 70 million
liters of water supplies the spas daily from 123 different springs.
There are 28 Spas based on this abundant water and numerous spa
hotels
offer large scale of
services for the visitors. Recently many wellness hotels were
opened, which along with the renowned ones strive to offer cures and
healing such as active recreation.
Most thermal
waters
cure arthritis, or skin problems, some of them ease the
problems of people suffering from digestive diseases in the form of a
drinking therapy. The temperature of the thermal springs are
different, the range is between 14-96C, in some spas cold
water is added in order to to cool it down for bathing. These
spas do not use filtration systems since the pools are designed as a
rapid, flow through system where water comes in one end and
out the other, at night, completely drained.
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