Daruvar

The Romans knew the springs here as Aquae Balissae and built baths on them; the water still comes out at around 45 to 50 degrees and the spa complex in the park has operated continuously in modern form since the eighteenth century, when the Jankovic family built the manor and developed the site. Daruvar is also the centre of the Czech minority in Croatia, descendants of families who settled here from the 1820s onward - Czech is taught in local schools, there is a Czech newspaper and cultural association, and the town's brewery, founded in 1840, sits in that tradition. The manor, park and baths make a compact centre.

History

Stone axes show people here in the Stone Age, and from the 4th century BC a settlement grew by the warm springs, home to the Iassi, a Celtic-Pannonian people known to Greek and Roman writers for their healing waters. As allies of Rome they backed Augustus at the siege of Siscia, and in 35 AD they were granted self-government as the Res Publica Iasorum, centred on Aquae Balissae, "very strong springs"; in 124, under Hadrian, it became the Municipium Iassorum, and later emperors including Marcus Aurelius, Septimius Severus and Constantine I visited its baths, temple, forum and small amphitheatre. Croats settled the valley after the Avars destroyed the local tribes in the 6th century. Ottoman forces held the area from 1543 until 1699, and in 1771 Count Antun Janković, who had bought Podborje, renamed it Daruvar - from the Hungarian daru, crane, and vár, castle - after his Crane's Castle. In 1837 King Ferdinand I made Daruvar a free town, and settlers were recruited from Bavaria and elsewhere, among them Germans, Hungarians, Czechs and Italians (Wikipedia, Daruvar).

Highlights

• Roman springs still in use - Aquae Balissae, water at 45 to 50 degrees.
• An eighteenth century spa - developed by the Jankovic family.
• A Czech-speaking community - settled from the 1820s, with schools and press.
• A brewery from 1840 - part of the same history.

When to go

Year round; the spa operates in all seasons. Half a day.

What to expect

The spa is a medical and rehabilitation facility as much as a leisure one, which shapes the atmosphere. Parts of the complex are dated. The town is quiet and off the main routes. Brewery tours need arranging.

Nearby

Papuk geopark is south-east; Bjelovar is north-west.

Key facts