The OLDEST spa in the Czech lands

The opening of the 861st spa season? By no means!

Great celebrations are probably in store for the residents of Teplice in 2154. If spa seasons are counted as they have been to date, it will be the 1,000th anniversary in 139 years, or rather a presumed anniversary, as the numbering of spa seasons is based on shaky foundations just like the discovery of the local springs, which Wenceslaus Hajek of Libočan dated as being in 762.

This chronicler mentions that hot waters were discovered in 1539, while a legend about a small scalded pig is attributed to a period nearly seventy years later. The reliability of such a cock-and-bull story is dubious, especially as archaeological finds confirm that the springs were used by the Celts much earlier.

The origins of the spa are derived from the foundation of the convent of Benedictine nuns in 1154. However, referring to it as the first spa season is optimistic. The spa as a service came into existence sometime during the 15th or 16th centuries, meaning today it would be roughly the 500th season.

The numbering of spa seasons really is nonsense. After all, other (and today more famous) spa towns such as Mariánské Lázně or Karlovy Vary do not feel the need to resort to such fiction.

Whether it will be the 500th or the 861st season, Teplice spa resort really is the oldest in the Czech Republic. This doesn’t necessarily mean too much for the future prosperity of the spa resort, but we can look at it as a way of not letting a centuries-old tradition die out.