History
LÚČKY SPA ltd. belongs among the oldest spas in Slovakia. It was first mentioned in 1712, when Liptovská Stolica (county) donated the sum of 40 gold coins designed for Lúčky Spa. This reference included in the Protocols of Liptovská Stolica is not specifying whether it was a sum designed for its construction or its running. Nevertheless, during the very following decade the Spa was visited by one of the most eminent Ugrian scholars of those times – Matej Bel. He was attracted by a good rumor that was spreading at that time about the local thermal springs and he described their then state and by this act he actually witnessed their existence.
Another milestone in the history of Spa is the year 1761, when the then co-owner Adam Turiansky had erected the first stone building over the mineral springs, which brought Lúčky a real Spa character. We can say that the present day LÚČKY SPA ltd. is on the threshold of a triad of important anniversaries. In 2010, it was the 15th anniversary of its privatization; in 2011 it celebrated 250 years since the erection of the first modern spa building and year 2012 is the one to celebrate the rounded 300th anniversary of the first reference on the timeline of Spa existence.
In 19th century, Lúčky became so popular, that some specialists often compared them to the most famous German, Italian or English Spa towns. One of them was a naturalist, professor at the lyceum in Sárospatak, Daniel Nitsch, who, in 1804 wrote: „If it is going to be proved that the springs in Lúčky improved and are improving the fertility, than these and all the following recommendations are useless and Lúčky is the true spring of blessing for the Hungary.“
Doctor David Wachtel mentioned the Spa in a similarly optimistic way, when he wrote in his publication about the spas and mineral springs in Old Hungary published in 1859: „Iron spa is in general a rare natural phenomenon and if this chemical analysis is going to prove what we can fully assume, then Lúčky in this case is surpassing all of the analogical thermal springs and thus Liptovká Stolica has a jewel of inestimable value, a pearl that needs but a suitable casing to make it shine above all other counties in our country and behind its borders as well.“
A satisfactory development of the Spa started after 1872, when Ján Tholt became its owner. The activities of the new owner were indicating that the Spa is really entering the golden era of its existence. He reconstructed the Spa building and new villas and guest-houses started to appear. Lúčky was becoming an attractive destination also for the clients from abroad. However, this roaring development was interrupted by the World War I. and during the interwar era the new owners weren’t able to adapt to newly changed conditions, influenced also by strong competition of the Czech Spas. The era of the stagnation started.
From the long-term point of view concerning the origination and development of the Lúčky Spa, year 1946 can be considered a milestone. In this year the spa house Liptov was officially put into operation and at that time it was fulfilling the conditions of quality and development trends in the spas. In order to stir your memory we remind you that the architect of this work was Milan Michal Harminc, who designed over 300 buildings in Europe from which 171 were situated in Slovakia. He built 108 churches for all confessions.
In 1948 all of the natural thermal springs and spas in ČSR were nationalized. By this act, the state obtained the right to dispose of the mineral springs and it got the right of property concerning the spa. In terms of new categorization, Lúčky was listed into second group as a spa of state-wide importance with specialization in gynecology.
After a decade dedicated rather to reconstruction and maintenance, in the middle of 60´s of the 20th century a new development started, which raised the capacity of the spas and changed the whole appearance of the spa area.
