Karlovy Vary

The Regional Capital Karlovy Vary (Karlsbad)
The world famous spa was founded by Charles IV in the mid-14th century and is today the largest spa town in the Czech Republic. It owes its fame to the hot curative springs in the meadows by the River Tepla. The largest of the springs - Vridlo - gushes up from a depth of 2,000 to 3,000 metres to a height of up to 12 metres, and the water has a temperature of approximately 73 °C. The range of conditions treated at the spa is wide, although digestive and some metabolic disorders seem to respond best to its waters. In the 19th century the architect J. Zitka built what is probably the best-known and visited spa building in

Karlovy Vary - the Mlynska (Mill) Colonnade which is 132 metres long and covers five springs. Karlovy Vary
Baroque Church of St. Mary Magdalene with its two-towered facade is the work of K.I. Dientzenhofer. Also remarkable is the Orthodox Church of Ss. Peter and Paul, a 19th-century replica of a Byzantine church. The statue of the Chamois below Deer's Leap (Jeleni skok) has become a symbol of the town. Many distinguished names are associated with the town. They include Venceslaus Payer - author of the first balneo-logical treatise on Karlovy Vary, D. Becher - the physician, H. Mattoni - who made Mattoni Mineral Water famous, K. Bayer - first manufacturer of Karlovy Vary biscuits, and J.G. Pupp, founder of the most celebrated of Karlovy Vary hotels. One of the best-known of local products is the "thirteenth spring" - the herbal liqueur Becherovka. Karlovy Vary has a highly regarded
enthusiasts appreciate its golf-course and race-track. Industrially the town is associated primarily with china clay mining, the production of world famous porcelain and glass in the Moser Glassworks.