Lipik

Lipik was one of the more fashionable spas of the Habsburg lands in the nineteenth century, built around a hot spring of unusually mineral water, with a bath house, a promenade, hotels and a glass-roofed pavilion. It was also the home of the Lipizzaner stud brought here in the nineteenth century. The spa complex has been restored in stages, and the stud farm is working.

History

Lipik was under the Ottomans, like other towns of Slavonia, until 1691. In 1773 a doctor from Varaždin wrote favourably about its warm waters, and Lipik worked as a treatment spa for more than a century before its first hotel opened in 1872; by 1920 there were six. In the late 19th and early 20th century it belonged to the Požega County of the Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia, and the spa is still the mainstay of the town (Wikipedia, Lipik).

The main sights

• A nineteenth century Habsburg spa - built on a strongly mineral hot spring.
• A Lipizzaner stud - brought here in the nineteenth century.
• The glass-roofed pavilion - with the bath house, promenade and hotels.
• Restoration in stages - the spa buildings brought back over decades.

When to go

April to October. Half a day.

Practical notes

Some buildings are restored and others still are not, so the town reads as unfinished. The war is recent and personal here. Spa facilities are medical as much as leisure. Services are limited.

Nearby

Pakrac is next door; Papuk geopark is east.

Key facts