Bath Houses of Budapest

Part of the reason the Roman’s chose to settle in the area of Budapest, was because 80% of the region has thermal water running beneath it.  There is a network of natural springs that flow throughout Hungary, but Budapest sits on the Carpathian Basin, where the earth's crust is at its thinnest, and so the water here gathers more minerals as it travels to the surface. Hot springs are classified as, any natural water source with a temperature higher than the human body, and they also contain an elevated mineral content, often thought to be medicinal. For Hungarians, even today, visiting the thermal baths can often be done with a prescription from your local physician. Most of the bathhouses have many separate pools, often with different temperatures or mineral contents. The largest of these is the Szechenyi, with 21 pools.

The thought that mineral waters can be of benefit to human health, is not a new idea.  The word ‘spa' is comes from the Latin expression, ‘Sanus Per Aquam’, meaning ‘health through water’. In Roman times, from the 1st to the 5th Century, Budapest was called Aquincum. Bathing was important to Roman society, not for getting clean, they did this before entering the baths, but for relaxation and socialisation. It is rumoured that Emperor Marcus Aureliius built the first bathhouse here, after noticing that his soldier’s wounds healed faster when bathed in the mineral waters. Even today, it is thought that the mixture of minerals in the water can treat arthritis, skin conditions, poor circulation and almost all aches and pains. Many of Budapest’s spas offer curative therapy sessions, but most visitors seem to use the baths as public pools.

During the Ottoman occupation, the Roman baths were revitalised, and some of these are still in use today.  By the time of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Budapest’s bathhouses were again a popular pastime, and taking the waters was an integral part of Budapest’s culture.  The therapeutic effects of calcium, magnesium and bromine might be disputable, but you may have a difficult time convincing the locals, who use these waters to cure, relax and socialise today, that they are not beneficial. Today, Hungarians and visitors alike, still use the bathhouses in the same way the Romans did 1,500 years ago. Budapest has a reputation for being the ‘city of spas’, and this alone attracts visitors from around the world.