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

attracted guests from the world over. A remarkable feature of the establishment is the great number of plaques with thankful words covering the interior, the courtyard and fagades of the buildings bearing witness to the fact that many of these guests were in fact cured. Regrettably many of these offerings were destroyed after World War II.

The Lukács swimming pool has a tradition of attracting prominent guests. Writers, poets, actors, artists and politicians are among its regular patrons. Its former daily guests included Zoltán Kodály, István Örkény, Zoltán Jékely and Boris Palotai. Of today’s actors it is frequented to this day by such celebrities as Ferenc Kállai, Dezső Garas, János Gálvölgyi, András Kern and many more.

The secret of longevity is a daily swim in the Lukács. No better proof of this is needed than the fact that the oldest patron of the pool is one hundred and two years old: general Dr Károly Molnár is the last Hungarian soldier of the last Hungarian king. His plaque by the entrance also pays tribute to the health-giving power of the baths' waters.

In the yard, on top of a three-metre tall twisted pillar stands a statue, made around 1760, of St. Luke the epo- nym of the baths.

The medical yard with its centuries-old plane-trees and lots of flowers is a most pleasant place to take a rest. It is from this courtyard that the communal steam department opens, a place where men, women, indeed whole families can enjoy, in their swimming costumes, the four thermal pools of various temperatures, the hot-air and humid

The court-yard of Lukács in the 1920s

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