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DAY 5 / SATURDAY / MAY 15
DAY FREE
OVERNIGHT IN MARIANSKE LAZNE
Today is your opportunity to rest and recuperate from the rigors of travel.
Mariánské Lázne (German: Marienbad) is a spa town in the Carlsbad Region of
the Czech Republic.
The top attraction of the town of Mariánské Lázne are
its 100 mineral springs (53 of them are tapped) with high carbon dioxide
content and often also higher iron content, both in the town itself and
surroundings.
The secluded town, surrounded by green mountains, is an exquisite mosaic of parks
and noble houses. Most of its buildings come from the town's Golden Era in
the second half of the 19th century, when many celebrities and top European
rulers came to enjoy the curative carbon dioxide springs.
Between 1870 and 1914 many new hotels, colonnades and other buildings
were constructed or rebuilt from older houses, and the town soon became
one of the top European spas.
It was very popular with celebrities and rulers who often returned there,
among them were such names as Goethe and Wagner, Frédéric Chopin,
Prince Friedrich of Saxony, English king Edward VII, the Russian Czar
Nicholas II, and Emperor Franz Joseph I.
When Thomas Alva Edison visited Mariánské Lázne in the late 1800s, he declared,
"There is no more beautiful spa in all the world."
The dominant architectural style of the town is Neo-Classical. The
pseudo-Baroque cast-iron Colonnade from 1889 is the main promenade
of the spa and an important architectural monument. The water from the Cross,
Caroline's and Rudolph's Springs is piped to the Colonnade for the drinking
cures. The Singing Fountain, located in front of the Colonnade, also
captures the attention of visitors.
The golf course is the second-oldest in Europe, founded by Edward VII, King of England.
Pool and spa area of the Falkensteiner Grand Spa Hotel Marienbad
The Singing Fountain and the Colonnade in Mariánské Lázne (Marienbad)
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