Meskó Csaba: Thermal Baths - Our Budapest (Budapest, 1999)

metres by 10. Both pools are equipped with a modern filtering system. Besides individual instruction there is group teaching which involves large numbers of pupils from neighbouring schools. In summer the large sun-bathing area on the roof and the children’s playing pool broaden the selection of services on offer.

The thermal steam baths department is simultaneously open to men and women wearing bathing suits. Besides the three medicinal pools of various temperatures, there are hot-air and humid steam chambers here, too. Medical and refreshing massage is also available as well as chiropody, foot massage and sole acupressure.

The tub bath department offers medical tub baths and underwater massage on doctor’s orders.

The composition and indications of the baths’ water are identical to those of the Széchenyi Baths.

The major swimming pools and lidos of Budapest

In addition to the medicinal baths of Budapest brief mention must also be made of the city’s major swimming pools and lidos.

The first swimming pool in Buda (built for the military) was opened in 1817. The history of civilian swimming pools began with the one opened near the monastery of the Piarist order in 1829. It was in 1836 that a swimming instructor was employed for the first time. The following years saw the opening of several swimming pools on the Danube. In 1852, the Walter Pool was the first to admit women.

From the second half of the nineteenth century, with the increasing popularity of competitive swimming, pools were added to the famous baths of the city. The Császár Baths opened its swimming pool in 1860, with the Lukács following suit in 1885.

Alfréd Hajós sports swimmimg pool - National Sports Swimming Pool Margaret Island, District XIII

In 1929 the International Foundation for Sports Swimming was donated a plot of land on Margaret Island by the mu53