They became famous all over the world. With its unique history and healing effects, Piešťany and its local mud are among Slovakia's greatest treasures. You can also enjoy mud wraps and therapeutic treatments at our Hotel Park ****

In Piešťany, there are springs of thermal mineral water, which have a high mineral content and a significant amount of sulfur and hydrogen sulfide. It springs from the depths of the Earth in a bypass arm of the Váh River. In its sediments, sulfur mud forms, which is unique not only in Europe but also globally.

Thermal mineral water and sulfur mud are among the natural healing factors to which the Piešťany spa owes its almost 200-year tradition. These natural healing resources are world-renowned in the treatment of severe musculoskeletal disorders, as well as diseases of the muscular and skeletal system, gout, and rheumatic diseases.

The first written mention of Piešťany (under the name Pescan) is found in the Zobor Charter of Hungarian King Coloman I from the year 1113. The healing springs in Piešťany were allegedly discovered by Roman legions. After a long and arduous journey, the Romans' horses were tired and could no longer continue. The soldiers decided to rest for a few days on the muddy meadow by the Váh River. After this rest, they supposedly continued their journey extraordinarily refreshed.

The healing effects of the thermal mineral water and sulfur mud in Piešťany were first described by doctors in the 14th century. In the 15th–17th centuries, interest in spa treatments with mineral water grew in Central Europe. The international fame of the spa town of Piešťany began to take shape in the second half of the 17th century. In 1642, Czech scholar Adam Trajan Benešovský from Benešov celebrated the healing effects of the spa in his laudatory poem Saluberrimae Pistinienses Thermae. He lyrically described the wild river with a raft, the manor house, nobles and peasants, the fertile valley, and crowds of people who, in spring when nature came alive, came to immerse themselves in hot baths and mud pits. The nobles, landowners, began building spa buildings over the springs. Thus, the first constructed spas also emerged in Piešťany. In 1821, the landowner of Piešťany, Count Jozef Erdödy, the Nitra governor and state minister of the Vienna government, began the construction of the first bathtub and pool spas.

Piešťany mud is among the highest quality and most famous peloids in the world. It is a heterogeneous living system that maintains itself in dynamic balance. The essence of Piešťany's healing mud is formed by homogenized sediment of the Váh, which settled in the bypass arm at places of wandering thermal water outlets. Matured Piešťany sulfur mud has a sticky, buttery consistency, steel-blue to black color, and excels in plasticity, thermal stability (cools four times slower than water), thermal conductivity, and reduction ability. Along with chemical properties, these physical properties make Piešťany sulfur mud unique among other therapeutically used peloids worldwide.

Piešťany spa was most famously brought to prominence by Ľudovít Winter. The former lessee of the Piešťany spa gave the town on the banks of the Váh River an indelible mark as a rehabilitation region at the beginning of the last century. A small marketing trick helped him with this. The Crutch Breaker statue remains one of Piešťany's most famous symbols even after almost a hundred years.

The Crutch Breaker was, however, a symbol of Piešťany even before the spa lessee Ľudovít Winter had it cast in bronze. Already at the end of the 19th century, Winter knew that the spa needed a simple symbol of healing.

Since he was saving money at the time and couldn't afford a renowned artist, in 1894 he approached a budding draftsman of German origin, Artur Heyer. "I commissioned him to express healing with a single figure. A few days later, he presented me with a sketch of the Crutch Breaker. I immediately accepted it and submitted it to the Chamber of Commerce for patenting," Winter writes in his memoirs. According to him, the Crutch Breaker became a sensation, with many attempting to imitate it.

He registered the figure as a trademark of the Piešťany spa and protected it legally. It appeared on posters, promotional materials, and other printed matter of the enterprise. However, while the bronze Crutch Breaker breaks the crutch in his hands, his predecessor broke the crutch over his knee.

History is present at every step in Piešťany. In few Slovak towns can you find as many cultural monuments per square meter as in this town. Whether it is the Thermia Palace building, the House of Arts, or the building of the former First Republic power plant.

The beautiful composition of architecture in the town center transports visitors to a time when nobility and splendor were part of everyday vocabulary.

However, it's not just about Piešťany mud. The city represents an ideal destination for rest and relaxation. Whether in the nearby Inovec mountain range or the recreational area of Sĺňava. Another great advantage is the city's accessibility via the highway. After an hour's drive from the capital, you'll find yourself in a place where time slows down. You'll experience pleasant relaxation and start to appreciate the beauty of nature and relief from health problems again.