Jelenia Góra – Cieplice – Historical Features

“… baths known by baths, attract every year various guests many with their construction, decay and order nice, which hot water gushing steams, and for various weaknesses miraculously results.”

This is what a Polish traveler and poet, Bogusz Zygmunt Stęczyński, who visited here in 1851, wrote about Cieplice spa. Not only do the local waters have an effect on these various weaknesses, but also the specific climate and location at the foot of the mountains. After arriving in Cieplice, one feels that these properties of the Cieplice springs help one recover faster. And they have been helping for a long time. The origins of Cieplice are lost far into the darkness of history. It is likely that the Slavic Bobrzan tribe already knew of the existence of warm springs here. However, local legends attribute the discovery of the Cieplice springs to Prince Boleslaw Wysoki, who ventured to this area in 1175 in pursuit of a deer he had wounded. The miraculous properties of the local waters attracted sick people seeking healing. This is probably why, on March 18, 1281, Prince Bernard of Lviv donated the “Calidusfons” or “Warm Spring” and 250 acres of land in the area to the hospital order of the Joannites of Strzegom. From then on, the order began caring for the sick who came here.

Another page in the history of Cieplice was written by a knight of Bolek II of Świdnica-Jawor, Gotsche Schoff, who bought Cieplice in 1381 and two years later brought to the spa the Cistercians from Krzeszów, who took care of the spring for the next four centuries. In the 16th and 17th centuries, following accurate medical descriptions, the popularity of Cieplice’s waters grew, attracting visitors, including Poles such as Helena Kałęcka, Hetman Koniecpolski, Michał Radziejowski and Queen Maria Kazimiera Sobieska. In the 19th century, the Schaffgotsch family, after the dissolution of the Cistercian order, became the owner of the spa and began to expand it, investing in transportation – from postal ambulances, stagecoaches, railroads and gas streetcars. In 1935 Cieplice was granted city status, and in 1971 it was incorporated into Jelenia Gora, retaining its status as a spa to this day.

Tourist attractions of Cieplice and surroundings

Post-Cistercian complex
The first monastery in Cieplice was built after 1403, but was destroyed during the Hussite wars. A new monastery was built in 1586-87 and rebuilt in Baroque style in 1679-84. After a fire in 1711, it was quickly rebuilt. Today it is a two-story building surrounding a courtyard, with preserved Renaissance portals and Baroque stucco. Part of the building is occupied by the Order of the Piarist Fathers, while the rest houses the Natural History Museum.

Baroque Church of St. John the Baptist
Built between 1712 and 1714 on the site of an older church, burned in 1711. The church has a rectangular plan, with side chapels and rich Baroque decor. The main altar contains a painting of the Blessed Virgin Mary by M. Willmann from 1687. Valuable paintings, sculptures and Rococo altars date from the 18th century. In front of the church is a bell tower from 1709-1711, and around the church are valuable tombstones and votive figures.

Long House at 5 P. Sciegiennego St.
Built around 1546 as a monastery building, rebuilt by the Cistercians in 1689-93, it is the oldest spa house in Cieplice.

Baroque statue of St. John of Nepomuk
Figure made by sculptor L. Weber in 1712, located in Cieplice.

Schaffgotsch Palace
Built in 1784-88 in classicist style, on the site of an earlier manor house. The palace is three-story, with beautiful fragments of stucco and floor mosaics. Today it houses a branch of the Wroclaw University of Technology. Adjacent to it is a landscape park, which was created in the 18th century and transformed in the 19th century.

Classicist Spa Pavilion
Built between 1797-1800, formerly housing the Gallery, now the Spa Club. The Spa Theater was added in 1836. The park also contains a monument to the martyrdom and glory of the Polish Armed Forces (1967).

Spa Park
It connects to Norwegian Park, which got its name from the Norwegian-style pavilion that housed the Natural History Museum until 2013. The park features a valuable ornithological collection and a butterfly collection.

Treatment profiles in Cieplice Slaskie-Zdrój

The Cieplice Health Resort offers comprehensive rehabilitation that covers a wide range of conditions, including post-traumatic orthopedic conditions, joint and spine diseases, as well as neurological problems and osteoporosis. Treatment also includes urinary tract conditions such as kidney stones, cystitis and chronic prostatitis. The spa also offers specialized treatment in ophthalmology, including therapy for chronic conjunctivitis, “dry eye” problems or conditions following glaucoma and cataract surgery.

Thanks to its unique location in the Jelenia Góra Valley, the Cieplice health resort benefits from a beneficial microclimate that promotes regeneration of the body. The therapies offered are tailored to the individual needs of patients, providing effective assistance in the treatment of many ailments, both in adults and children.

Natural curative materials in Cieplice Slaskie-Zdrój

The mineral waters of the Cieplice health resort come from infiltration springs 16-22 thousand years old and are characterized by poor mineralization (less than 1000 mg/dm³). They are fluoride-silicon waters, with fluoride (8-12 mg/dm³), which supports normal ossification and osteoporosis prevention, and silicon (100 mg/dm³), which affects bone mineralization and skin health. The water also contains other minerals such as calcium, magnesium, potassium, iron, sodium, iodine and carbon dioxide.

The spa also uses peloids, including peat, which is a natural peat with a high degree of processing by microorganisms. Peat has a high heat capacity, which allows treatments to be carried out without the risk of burning the skin, even at higher temperatures (42-45°C). It has anti-inflammatory and antibacterial effects, as well as helping to absorb swelling and improve blood circulation. Mud’s chemical components, such as humic acids, tannins, bitumen and resins, are critical to its therapeutic properties. Mud paste is applied at a lower temperature (37-38°C), making the treatment milder and suitable even for people with contraindications to hot therapies.

Basic treatment procedures in Cieplice

HEALING BATHS are the oldest and most widely used treatment, performed in baths and pools, and combined with exercises form kinesiotherapy baths. The effect of baths is based on two main factors:
– physical, related to the immersion of the body in water and its temperature,
– specific, resulting from the influence of mineral water components, which penetrate the skin, act on the receptors of the nervous system, are partially absorbed into the bloodstream and remain active even after the end of the treatment. During the bath, the body excretes metabolic products and toxic substances.

Hydrotherapy includes mineral baths, whirlpool baths, pearl baths, carbonic acid baths, underwater massages, water whips, four-chamber baths, cryotherapy, hydromassage, oral hydrotherapy and eyeball aerosols.

DRINKING CURE (crenotherapy) is the drinking of medicinal water in specific amounts, temperatures and times, under the supervision of a doctor. It acts locally on the digestive and urinary systems, affecting secretion and peristalsis, and supplements macro- and micro-nutrients, supporting the body’s adaptive responses.

INHALATION involves the introduction of a therapeutic aerosol into the respiratory system. Thanks to modern apparatus, aerosol particles penetrate deeply into the respiratory tract. Oil inhalations, mineral inhalations and eye aerosols are used.

PELOIDOTHERAPY includes baths, compresses, mud tampons and mud infusions. Mud has anti-inflammatory effects and aids in the treatment of various conditions.

KINESIHERAPY is therapeutic gymnastics, both collective and individual, in its full range.

ELECTROLOGICAL MEDICINE includes galvanization, ionophereisis, dynamic currents, magnetotron, laser therapy and ultrasound.

In addition, classical massages, paraffin wraps and topical cryotherapy are offered.

Cieplice Slaskie-Zdroj, located at the foot of the Giant Mountains, is one of the oldest spas in the Sudetenland, known for its unique warm springs and favorable climate. The town’s history dates back to 1175, when the priest Boleslaw Wysoki, after hunting in the Sudeten forests, recovered thanks to the hot waters.

Cieplice was an independent town, and from 1281, after a donation from Prince Bernard Lviv, the care of the hot springs and patients was taken over by the Strzegom-based St. John’s Knights. It was they who built the monastery, the hospital and the first spa.

In the 17th century, Cieplice became popular with distinguished visitors, including Chancellor Stanislaw Radziwill and Queen Marysieńka Sobieska, who visited the spa in 1687.

After 1945, the spa operated as part of a state-owned enterprise, and since 1999 it has operated as “Uzdrowisko Cieplice” Spółka z o.o. The thermal waters from the four springs are weakly mineralized, fluoride-silicon and alkaline, which accounts for their uniqueness.

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