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

The Margaret Baths on the Island around 1940

yielding thermal water at a temperature of 43.8°C. This was followed by the establishment of well No. 1 at what is now Heroes’ Square. Drilling began in November 1868, also under the supervision of Vilmos Zsigmondy, but the well was only completed in 1878. It was 970.48 metres deep with an original yield of 528 litres per minute at a temperature of 73.9°C. It was this well that made the development of the first medicinal watering complex in Pest possible.

The next great period in the history of bathing in Budapest lasted from the second half of the nineteenth century to the outbreak of World War I. In 1860, the Császár Baths was reconstructed in neo-Classical style to plans by József Hild. 1869 saw the construction of Szent Margit Medicinal Baths designed by Miklós Ybl. 1893 was the year when the Lukács Baths was rebuilt, while in 1913 the Széchenyi Baths and in 1918 Szent Gellért Baths were opened. It was also at this time that the first swimming pools and hygienic baths were built. The cult of open-air bathing emerged at the turn of the century and, following the trend set by Vienna, it was at this time, too, that swimming pools opened by the Danube.

Gradual improvements have been made before our very eyes. Hotel Thermal was fairly recently built on Margaret Island, and the neighbouring Nagyszálló (Grand Hotel) has been provided with medical facilities. In 1990, the Finnish- style medicinal hotel Thermal Hotel Hélia was built, which was followed by the opening of the Hotel Acquincum.

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