Marianske Lazne

Marianske Lazne was laid out in the early 19th century on a wooded valley floor, and it still reads as a single designed object: long ranks of cream and ochre buildings with iron balconies arranged around parks, with forest closing in above the roofline. The centrepiece is the cast-iron colonnade, a covered walkway with a painted ceiling where people once took the waters on prescription and now mostly stroll. In front of it sits the Singing Fountain, a circular basin that runs choreographed water displays to music through the day. The springs are cold and heavily mineralised, tapped at pavilions scattered through the town and the surrounding woods, which are threaded with marked paths.

History

The village of Úšovice is first recorded in 1273, and its springs appear in a document of 1341 as belonging to Teplá Abbey; only after the abbey's physician Josef Nehr, from 1779 until his death in 1820, showed their healing properties did they come into medical use. The name Marienbad dates from the late 18th century, after an image of the Virgin hung by a spring; the place became a spa in 1818, and the Teplá abbots, above all Karl Kaspar Reitenberger, turned the marshy valley into a park landscape with colonnades and neoclassical buildings. Its golden era came between 1870 and 1914, helped by the railway to Cheb in 1872, when about 20,000 visitors a year came, among them rulers and celebrities, and King Edward VII opened the first golf course in 1905; in 2021 the town became part of the Great Spa Towns of Europe World Heritage Site (Wikipedia, Mariánské Lázně).

The main sights

• The cast-iron colonnade - the long covered walkway with a painted ceiling and spring taps at one end.
• The Singing Fountain - the circular basin below the colonnade that plays timed water displays.
• The spring pavilions - small classical structures built over individual mineral springs across town and woods.
• The spa forest paths - marked trails climbing from the buildings straight into the hills above.

When to go

May to October for the parks, the fountain programme and the walking paths above town; the fountain is switched off through winter and the flower beds that carry the town's look are bare. Advent brings a small market. Spa hotels fill in summer, so book ahead if you want a room in the centre.

Before you go

The mineral waters are strongly laxative and taste of iron and salt, which visitors are rarely warned about. Much of the town is oriented towards long-stay medical guests, so evenings are quiet and the restaurant choice is limited. Several grand buildings are mid-renovation, and the outskirts are ordinary blocks.

Nearby

Frantiskovy Lazne and Karlovy Vary complete the spa triangle, and the Slavkov Forest surrounds the town.

Key facts