Places of Interest
Fascinating Františkovy Lázně

Františkovy Lázně is the smallest of the well-known and close-knit west Bohemian spa town triangle. It was founded in the late 18th century on the Baroque principle of axial symmetry and from the 1820s, it was gradually transformed into an ideal spa town with a regular chess-board street network spreading around the springs. It is one of the best preserved famous spa towns with vast, mutually interconnected parks and gardens extending over a relatively flat terrain. The town may boast the world's oldest peat pulp baths and it inspired numerous music and literary works of world-famous composers and authors.

1. František, the little boy holding a fish

The little statuette of a boy playing with the fish is named František and became the symbol of the healing and therapeutic powers of our spa town.

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2. The Francis Spring

The Francis spring is a spring of healing mineral water named after Francis I. Emperor of Austria. For its effervescence it was compared to Champagne by the spa guests.

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3. Monument to Francis I. Emperor of Austria

The statue shows the Emperor in his ceremonial uniform of a field marshal, with the Order of the Golden Fleece. Our town was named in honour of the Emperor as Kaiser Franzensbad (The Spa of Francis the Emperor).

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4. Salingburg

The little romantic lookout tower on top of the hill reminds one of the enchanted castle in Sleeping Beauty.

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5. The Glauber Springs Hall

The Glauber Springs Hall from 1930 was constructed keeping in mind the increasing number of spa visitors, and was to provide modern and stylish facilities to take their drinking cure.

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6. Carbon Dioxide Gas Spa

The Spa for the carbon dioxide treatments with the dry gas spring Marie is right in the middle of the town. The gas is absorbed by the skin and it lowers blood pressure and reduces inflammation.

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7. Wiedermann Park- Therapeutic Landscape

Wiedermann Park is one of many forest parks of Františkovy Lázně. It has been carefully planed and landscaped with well being, fitness and health of the spa patients and visitors in mind.

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8. The Orthodox Church of Saint Olga

The Church of Saint Olga in Františkovy Lázně is the work of local architect Gustav Wiedermann. It was built within a mere 192 working days and was completed in May 1889.

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9. Social Hall

The original building containing an inn, a drinking hall, and a dance hall, was built in 1793–1795.The building fulfilled the purpose of a social centre, where the spa guests met at a common table, spent their leisure time by reading, by playing billiards, or at evening fêtes.

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10. National Nature Reserve Soos

The Soos Nature Reserve is an area of the prehistoric Soos Forest (the “Soos Silva”).

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11. Komorní Hůrka

Komorní Hůrka, the national nature monument is a volcano and is part of Czech- Bavarian Geopark Egeria. It is one of the youngest Quaternary volcanoes in the Czech Republic. At the time, Komorní hůrka Hill was visited and studied by prominent world scientists. Its exploration was also recommended by the German poet, Johann Wolfgang Goethe.

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12. Seeberg Castle

Seeberg Castle is located approximately 5 km west of the town. The premises of the half-timbered tower granary located around the castle are dedicated to the folk culture, agriculture, and crafts of the 19th-century Egerland.  The history of the castle dates back all the way to the 12th century, and is related to the contemporary expansion of the Holy Roman Empire.

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13. Amerika Forest Park

The Amerika Forest Park expands around the 60 ha fishpond of a same name.  The island in the centre  serves as a nesting area and as migration stop for a whole range of water birds.  It is listed as Nature Reserve.

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14. New Colonnade

According to the original designs of Abbé Gruber, the square surrounding the František Spring enclosed in 1912 by a new colonnade was built according to the designs of Gustav Wiedermann, along with the Neo-Classicist building of the gas spa with the Marie Spring - a source of dry CO2.

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15. Famous Visitors

Františkovy Lázně was visited by its founder Emperor Franz in 1812, when he was accompanying his daughter Marie Louise on her journey from Dresden back to Paris. To name just few more: Emperor Karl I and Zita von Bourbon, Emperor Franz Joseph I, Johann Wolfgang Goethe, Johann Strauss Jr., Ludwig van Beethoven, Marie Ebner von Eschenbach, Božena Němcová.

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