Imperial Spa, Neo-Renaissance spa building in Karlovy Vary, Czech Republic
The Imperial Spa is a large spa building in the center of Karlovy Vary, built in a French Neo-Renaissance style. It contains many treatment rooms and bathing sections spread across several floors.
The building was completed in the 1890s on the site of an old brewery, and it quickly became one of the most known spa facilities in Central Europe. It is now listed as a national cultural monument of the Czech Republic.
The name Kaiserbad, later Císařské lázně, was used from the building's opening on 6 May 1895, when a foundation charter and coins were walled up for future generations. The attic Zanderův sál, once a gymnastics hall, now holds an exhibition on the spa and its famous guests, with murals of figures from the Renaissance to 1791.
The building is within walking distance of the center of Karlovy Vary, and its different sections are clearly marked inside. A visit pairs well with a walk along the town's colonnaded promenades nearby.
The imperial bath on the ground floor was reserved for Emperor Franz Joseph I, though he never used it. Above the main entrance are the names of Karlovy Vary's leading physicians, but Jean de Carro is missing: German councillors disliked him for speaking French. His bust by Josef Bezděk was only placed on the grand staircase in 1968.
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