Băile Olănești: sulphur and iodine springs of Vâlcea

Băile Olănești is a mineral-water spa in Vâlcea County, in the valley of the Olănești river, at about 450 m and roughly 20 km north-west of the town of Râmnicu Vâlcea. The town is surrounded by hills covered with beech and oak forests, and higher up part of its territory belongs to the Buila-Vânturarița National Park. The village is first mentioned in 1527, and its "healing waters" appear in a charter of 1760. In 1868 the physician Carol Davila studied the springs and described several dozen of them, and the first bath houses were built. In 1873 the Olănești waters won gold medals at the World Exhibition in Vienna — the year often regarded as the founding date of the spa.

Natural healing resources

The spa's main asset is about thirty springs with waters of differing composition, traditionally known by their numbers. According to the guide to Romania's balneological resorts, they include:

• sulphurous waters — chloride, slightly iodine- and bromine-bearing, with sodium, calcium and magnesium;
• oligomineral waters (springs No. 11, 12, 24);
• hypotonic (No. 5, 7, 14) and isotonic (No. 3, 19) waters.

The water is used mainly for drinking cures (crenotherapy), and also for baths, inhalations and aerosols. The climate is a mild hill climate with clean forest air.

What is treated

Indications according to the resort guide and the programmes of the local treatment unit: diseases of the kidneys and urinary tract (kidney stones, chronic pyelonephritis), of the digestive system (chronic gastritis, chronic colitis, constipation), of the liver and bile ducts (dyskinesia, chronic cholecystitis, the state after gallbladder removal), of the respiratory system (allergic asthma, chronic bronchitis), allergic conditions (rhinitis, urticaria, atopic dermatitis), and diabetes as an accompanying programme. The town council recommends the sulphur-water pool for rheumatic, respiratory and skin complaints. Drinking water here is a remedy: medical staff warn that it can raise blood pressure, so the dose and the spring are chosen by a doctor. This information is for reference only and is not medical advice: a doctor prescribes the course and procedures after a consultation.

Procedures and pump rooms

• The TISA treatment unit (Strada Libertății 2A) has a contract with Romania's National Health Insurance House but also accepts uninsured patients: first a paid consultation with the doctor, then the procedures he or she prescribes. They include crenotherapy with sulphurous waters, aerosols, injections of water from spring No. 7 (for allergies), kinesiotherapy and hydrokinesiotherapy, galvanic baths, electro-, magneto- and phototherapy.
• The drinking springs are grouped in the centre of the spa; according to the press, access is paid — by card, after a medical consultation, with a daily limit on the amount of water.
• The town council's sulphur-water pool on Strada Băilor opens in the summer season: the water is heated by solar panels to 28–30 °C.
• TISA Aqua Park & Spa is a leisure water park with heated pools, slides and saunas (not mineral water).

Practical information

The spa operates all year, and summer is the busiest season. Procedures at the TISA unit are by appointment only; prices depend on the prescription and should be checked before the appointment. The main street follows the river, and all pump rooms, treatment units and parks are within walking distance. Paths lead from the spa to picturesque gorges and small waterfalls on the Olănești river, and old hermitages stand in the neighbouring valleys.

Getting there from Ukraine

From Chernivtsi it is 528 km, about 9 h 41 min via the Porubne – Siret checkpoint; from Rakhiv it is 458 km, about 7 h 52 min via the Solotvyno – Sighetu Marmației checkpoint; from Uzhhorod it is 541 km, about 8 h 43 min via the Diakove – Halmeu checkpoint; times are without border queues. Romanian roads require the rovinieta e-vignette. The last kilometres run from the town of Râmnicu Vâlcea up the Olănești valley.

Nearby

Some 16 km to the east, above the Olt gorge, rises Cozia (Ciuha Mare), the mountain of the national park of the same name. Two more Vâlcea spas are close by: Călimănești-Căciulata in the Olt gorge and Băile Govora with its iodine-bromine waters, and further south lies the Ocnele Mari salt mine. Mountain rescue: Salvamont 0SALVAMONT — 0725 826 668 or 112.

Official website: tisa.ro

Photos: CristianChirita (Commons uploader), CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons; Akrep Scorpion, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons.