Slovenské liečebné kúpele Piešťany

The Piešťany spa occupies its own island in the river Váh in western Slovakia — the Kúpeľný ostrov, a wooded park holding the bath houses, the treatment buildings and the spa hotels. It has treated rheumatic and musculoskeletal conditions for more than a century, and it is what the town is known for.

Water and mud

The operator states a thermal mineral water rich in sulphur — 6 to 10 mg per litre — and in hydrogen sulphide at 4.7 mg per litre, with the pools running at 32–34 °C. Historic pools are warmer: the mirror pool at 38–39 °C and the mud pool at 39–40 °C.

The mud is the resource the spa is built on. Described as butter-like and unusually warm at about 45 °C, it takes its therapeutic action from the same sulphur and hydrogen sulphide as the water, and is applied in wraps and in the mud pool.

What it is used for

The stated indications are chronic conditions of movement — arthritis, rheumatism and musculoskeletal and inflammatory disease — with rehabilitation after injury and surgery alongside them. Treatment is prescribed and supervised medically rather than sold by the hour.

Visiting

The spa is run by Ensana Health Spa Hotels, whose houses on the island include the Thermia Palace with its Irma bath and the Esplanade. Bathing here belongs to a stay and a course of treatment; there is no public entrance to the pools in the way a town bath has one.