VARAZDINSKE TOPLICE

Motif: A detail from picture postcard of Varaždinske Toplice from 1901, with the illustration of Emperor Constatine’s bath and a map Varaždinske Toplice is a health resort situated on the north-eastern border of Hrvatsko Zagorje (mountainous region). The centre of the settlement is located on travertine terraces along the southern inclination of the Toplica mountain and slopes downward into a smallish valley with the river Bednja meandering through it. The succulent greenness of the fields and meadows along the Bednja, garlands of calm hills, numerous green areas in the settlement itself and the urban structure that reminds of Mediterranean small towns – all this gives the resort a rarely seen vivacity. Varaždinske Toplice has developed due to a gift of nature – an abundant spring of thermal medicinal waters. The first groups of people to be attracted to the thermal springs ensured the continuity of the residence and curing of people starting from the Palaeolithic through all the cultural epochs in succession. The first inhabitants whose name we know were the Panonian Illyric tribe Iasae, known since the 3rd century B.C. The word “Ias” means the owner of hot springs or the inhabitant of Toplice (Toplice is the Croatian word for a spa – hot springs, and the name of the settlement). When the Romans took came here and gained power, the settlement received its first known name AQUAE IASAE. At the time of the Roman Empire, through full four centuries A.D., Toplice experiences its golden age. It was a flourishing health resort with a monumental bathing complex next to close by the thermal springs, and there was also a forum (square) and capitol (temple). This was the place where they treated and cured officers and soldiers of the Roman legions as well as high-placed civilian functionaries. The curative power of the thermal waters used to be attributed to the deities, primarily to nymphs, goddesses of health and guardians of the thermal springs. At the beginning of the 4th century, after the wartime devastations, Toplice was restored on account of the command of Emperor Constantine I “the Great”. The Emperor introduced Sunday fairs throughout the year, which is the first time that fairs on Croatian land and elsewhere were mentioned. The ancient Toplice was constantly being destroyed starting from the 4th century onward, in interior turmoils and the great movement of peoples. When life became stabilized again in the Middle Ages, the settlement retained the thermal waters as its fundamental feature. In the Bull issued by King Bella III in the year 1181, the settlement was named TOPLISSA, which is the Latinized form of the Croatian indigenous name. It was then that Toplice became the property of the Zagreb Chapter, and it remained in this status for more than eight centuries. Through a number of centuries starting with the Middle Ages, the visitors and consumers of the Toplice were peasants and commoners from the wide areas of the north-western Croatia, south-western Hungary and Styria. The curative treatment came down to lengthy bathing and capillary bloodletting by the help of horns, which was performed by the local barbers. Due to staying in too hot a bath for too long and to excessive bloodletting, some patients used to ruin their health, sometimes even with fatal outcomes. At the beginning of the 17th century, after the end of the immediate danger of Turkish invasions, numerous high society members started visiting Toplice. When the danger of Turkish attacks completely stopped at the end of the 17th century, conditions for reforming the still medieval health resort matured. In 1695 the dilapidated stronghold was reconstructed and turned into a baroque castle, and in 1756 a new inn was built with some ten nicely decorated rooms. In 1779, the centuries-old wooden bathing edifice was replaced by a bathing-resort building made of bricks. At this time the eminent physician, humanist and educator, Ivan Krstitelj Lalangue, was engaged in various activities in Varaždin, introducing the spirit of the new times to Toplice. He was trying to suppress the misuse that accompanied bloodletting and the traditional bad habits, but he achieved only temporary and partial success. However, very soon there was a turn taking place in Toplice. The turning point was the 1st of May 1820 when, after reaching two agreements, a modern health resort was established, subject to supervision of physicians from Varaždin, and for the first time the traditionally performed bloodletting was efficiently limited. In a few years’ time Toplice got several hotels and buildings for its thermal baths, and the whole town experienced a fundamental transformation. Starting with the year 1832, Toplice has had its permanent health resort physicians. Just before World War I Varaždinske Toplice compared favourably with the eminent Central European bathing-and-health resorts. Varaždinske Toplice also has a great and precious monumental heritage. The centre of the town has become subject to preservation as a unique urban whole. The greatest attraction are the excavations from the times of the Roman Empire – the only excavated ancient spa in Croatia. This complex is being arranged as an archaeological park. The complex in its very centre has an impressive effect: the stronghold rebuilt into a baroque castle, the old town with the parish church. Let us mention some specific monuments: the monument to the Croatian language, put up in 1997 on the occasion of the 150th anniversary of pronouncing Croatian the official language. Next to the old Chapel of the Holy Spirit there is the commemorative monument erected for the Croatian dignitaries Antun and Ivan Kukuljević. Together with the already mentioned persons, there are other eminent persons who are linked to Varaždinske Toplice by their life and work. Let us list them here: • Dr. Josip Kalasancije Schlosser, the first permanent bathing-resort physician, eminent natural scientist, academician; • Marija Ružička-Strozzi, the legend of the Croatian theatre; • Lavoslav Horvat, the famous architect, academician; • Josip Čabrijan, pharmaceutical chemist, historian and conservationist, founder of the Toplice museum; • Antun Bahunek, well known naive-art painter; • Ruža Pospiš-Baldani, operatic singer of worldwide reputation. The Regional Museum of Varaždinske Toplice has many proofs of the past stored for keeping and intended for presentation. The most valuable exhibits are objects from the Roman times and the balneological collection. There is also a rich ethnographic collection displayed in a wooden village cottage from the year 1801. The present-day population of the town of Varaždinske Toplice numbers more than 2000 inhabitants. The exponent of the bathing-and-health as well as tourist activities is the “Special Hospital for Medical Rehabilitation” with an accommodation capacity of 1200 beds and numerous supporting catering and recreational facilities. Traditionally, numerous inhabitants of Varaždinske Toplice offer private accommodation services to the tourists.