Marienbad

More then two hundred years ago, forest wastelands and swamps stretched out in places where you can find beautiful parks and important buildings today. This abandoned area was under the administration of a monastery in the nearby town of Tepla. It was the monks from the local monastery who were the first to discover the salt springs here and began to extract salt from them. Thanks to its sale, rumours circulated fast about the benefit of the local waters, which soon attracted the first patients. Great interest forced the monastery officials to clean up the springs and make them accessible to the public. However, the locals did not trust the sources much so the first attempt of stablish a spa did not work out.

It was not until 1779, when the monastery physician Jan Josef Nehr convinced the abbot of Tepla, K.K. Reitenberger, of their healing effects. K.K. Reitenberger and the talented garden architect Vaclav Skalnik also contributed to the further development of the spa in the 19 th century by expanding the construction of spa buildings and pavilions. He carried out extensive landscaping and designed parks next to springs which are the pride of Marienbad today.