Hurray! UNESCO Adds Three Czech Spa Towns to World Heritage List

“Whilst each spa town is different, all the towns developed around mineral water sources, which were the catalyst for a model of spatial organisation dedicated to curative, therapeutic, recreational and social functions,” it said.

Karlovy Vary

Karlovy Vary, also known as Carlsbad, is a charming little spa town known for its amazing variety of healing thermal springs. The area offers a variety of walking paths you can use to get to the various springs to relax in, many of which are bordered by colorful houses.

The town was established in the 14th century by Emperor Charles IV after—as the legend goes—he accidentally stumbled upon the area’s thermal springs while out on a hunt. Following the Emperor’s lead, people have been coming here to take the waters ever since, and most of the current architecture is the result of the mineral spa boom of the 1700’s and 1800’s.

Mariánské Lázně

Immortalized in the title of French director Alain Resnais’ groundbreaking 1961 film, “Last Year at Marienbad,” (though the film doesn’t actually take place here), Marianske Lázně’s roots go back to the 14th century, when its carbonated springs belonged to the monks of the Tepl Abbey.

In the late 1700’s, it was the work of the abbey’s physician in proving the water’s curative properties that helped make the town a popular wellness destination. By the early 1900’s, close to a million bottles of mineral water from the town were exported every year, while over time the town regularly hosted boldface names like the writer Johann Wolfgang Goethe, composer Frederic Chopin, Russian Czar Nicolas II, and even Thomas Edison.