Trenčianske Teplice: the Hammam and sulphur thermal baths

Trenčianske Teplice is one of Slovakia's oldest spas, squeezed into a narrow wooded valley of the Strážov Mountains not far from Trenčín. Hot sulphur springs rise from the ground here, and the spa is not called the "pearl of the Carpathians" for nothing. Legend says the springs were found by a lame shepherd looking for a stray sheep: the sheep recovered in a warm pond, and then so did he – which is why a sheep is still on the town's coat of arms. The first record of the warm springs dates from 1247. The Illésházy family, who owned the baths for 241 years, did the most for the spa, and in 1835 they were bought by the Viennese financier Juraj Sina. In 1888 his daughter Iphigénie d'Harcourt added the Hammam to the Sina pool – the spa's most precious historic monument. Today the spa is run by the joint-stock company Kúpele Trenčianske Teplice.

Mineral waters and natural resources

The spa uses six springs of sulphur thermal water at 38.4–40 °C. It is a sulphate calcium-magnesium water with hydrogen sulphide (sulphane); research puts its age at 20,000–23,000 years. Its great advantage is the natural temperature: in the pools and tubs the water is 35.5–39 °C, so it needs neither heating nor cooling and the sulphane does not escape. That is why the pools and tubs sit right next to the springs, and the Sina pool above the hottest one, at 40 °C. According to the spa's own story, a bakery once stood on the site of the pool until a jet of warm water burst out from under the oven. The water is used for baths and drinking cures; mineral fango and peat are used for wraps.

What is treated

The spa specialises in treating and preventing musculoskeletal diseases: osteoarthritis of the joints, spinal disorders including disc problems and scoliosis, rheumatoid arthritis and ankylosing spondylitis, and conditions after fractures, joint replacements, arthroscopies and spinal surgery. The official indications also include nervous, skin (notably psoriasis, with the dedicated TOMESA therapy), oncological, digestive, metabolic and endocrine, and gynaecological diseases. The main procedures are bathing in sulphur thermal pools and tubs, pearl baths, fango and peat, the dry carbon dioxide bath, gas injections, inhalations, magnetic and electrotherapy, massages and rehabilitation. The spa offers more than 80 kinds of procedures; treatment is prescribed by a doctor.

Pools, the Hammam and wellness

The thermal pools are housed in historic buildings: Sina with the Hammam, and three pools in the Kaštieľ, including the MUDr. Čapek pool, named after the doctor – father of the writer Karel and the painter Josef Čapek – who worked here for 13 years. Baths in the thermal pools are also sold to visitors who are not taking a cure, at the procedure sales office in the Kaštieľ. The Hammam is open for visits too: guided tours take place every Tuesday. The heated outdoor Grand pool (25 × 10 m, 28–31 °C, with a round relaxation pool at 32–35 °C and a "fast river") is open to everyone aged three and over, and the WellMed wellness centre in the Slovakia building offers a pool, saunas and a tepidarium.

Practical information

Trenčianske Teplice is reached from Trenčianska Teplá, next to the Bratislava – Žilina main line, a few kilometres from the spa town. The spa is compact, with all buildings in the pedestrian zone around the Spa Square and the park with its pond. In summer it hosts the Music Summer, the oldest chamber-music festival in Central Europe. The procedure sales office is open daily, and some procedures are sold without a medical examination. Hours and prices are listed in the summary block.

Nearby: trails and other spas

Short trails start from the spa park: Trenčianske Teplice, park – Malý Klepáč (red trail) and Trenčianske Teplice – Baračka – after a forest walk, a soak in the sulphur water is just right. Down the Váh lies Piešťany: the Spa Island, sulphur mud and thermal baths, and upstream Nimnica: a mineral-water spa above the Nosice reservoir.

Official website: kupele-teplice.sk

Photos: Jan Polák, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons; Marek Šeregi, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons; Punteador, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons; Kudlík, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons; Rodolphus74, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons; Vojtěch Dočkal, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons.