Krynica-Zdroj

Krynica is the biggest of the Polish spa towns, developed through the nineteenth century around a set of carbonated mineral springs of which the strongest, Zuber, has one of the highest mineral contents of any drinking water in Europe and tastes accordingly. The centre is a long pedestrian promenade, Deptak, with the new pump room at one end - a modernist hall of the 1970s where the waters are served by the glass - the old wooden pump room, the Art Nouveau Stary Dom Zdrojowy and a line of villas behind. A funicular runs up Gora Parkowa. On the hill at Nowy Domek is the house of Nikifor, the Lemko painter who lived here in poverty for decades, sold small watercolours to visitors and is now recognised as one of the major naive artists of the twentieth century; the museum holds a large group of them. In winter the slopes at Jaworzyna work as a ski area.

History

Krynica was first recorded in 1547, and its mineral waters were discovered in the 17th century. From 1856 it grew quickly into a health resort, largely through Józef Dietl, the "father of Polish balneology", and visitors included Jan Matejko and Henryk Sienkiewicz; it received town rights in 1889, the railway reached Muszyna in 1876 and Krynica in 1911, and the town hosted the World Ice Hockey Championships in 1931 (Wikipedia, Krynica-Zdrój).

The main sights

• The Deptak promenade - pump rooms, villas and the Stary Dom Zdrojowy along it.
• Zuber water - one of the most highly mineralised drinking waters in Europe.
• The Nikifor museum - the Lemko painter's work, in the house where he lived.
• A funicular and ski slopes - Gora Parkowa in summer, Jaworzyna in winter.

When to go

May to September, or the ski season. A day.

Good to know

The town is busy and built-up; this is a resort, not a village. Zuber water is genuinely hard to drink for most people. Sanatorium treatments are for registered patients. Weekend traffic on the approach roads is heavy.

Nearby

Muszyna is south; the wooden churches of the Lemko region are around.

Key facts