Rajecké Teplice

Rajecké Teplice
Town
Aphrodite Spa Hotel in Rajecké Teplice
Coat of arms
Country	Slovakia
Region	Žilina
District	Žilina
River	Rajčanka
Elevation	415 m (1,362 ft)
Coordinates	49°07′31″N 18°40′56″E / 49.12528°N 18.68222°E / 49.12528; 18.68222Coordinates: 49°07′31″N 18°40′56″E / 49.12528°N 18.68222°E / 49.12528; 18.68222
Area	11.85 km2 (4.58 sq mi)
Population	2,728 (2004)
Density	230/km2 (596/sq mi)
Mayor	Katarína Hollá
Postal code	01313
Area code	+421-41
Car plate	ZA
Location of Rajecké Teplice in Slovakia
Location of Rajecké Teplice in the Žilina Region
Website: www.rajecke-teplice.sk

Rajecké Teplice (Hungarian: Rajecfürdő) is a spa town in the Žilina District, Žilina Region in northern Slovakia.

The first reliable written record was in 1376. It has town status since 1989.

The town lies in the Rajčanka river valley, 15 kilometres (9 miles) south of Žilina.

Located between the Lúčanská Malá Fatra and Martinské hole Hills at the valley of the Rajčanka river, the spa is marked as Thermae on a map from 1376, but a deed by Luis the Great gives the first written account of the hot water springs named Villa Tapolcha. In the donation deed made by the king Vladislaus II for Štefan Zápoľský from 1496, the spa is referred to as "possessio Thoplycza", what could mean a settlement or a hamlet.

The Lietava domain had been developed at the beginning of the 17th century and it covered the thermal spa together with the broad surrounding and the first settlements from which the present spa – Rajecké Teplice – had developed. The first buildings included the spa house and an inn for wealthy guests, with the first detailed description of the spa given by professor Cranz in his balneography.

There were three spa pools available for guests and the treatment focused on paralysis, rheumatism, oedema and various dermatological diseases.

The construction of the mansion began in the beginning of the 17th century (1610) and new construction of the spa was commenced at the end of the 18th century, since the Palatine Juraj Thurzo liked this spa, as can be seen from a written document from 1604. The Palatine Thurzo built a brick house with six rooms. The Lietava domain was split after his death, and the spa did not benefit from this and began to deteriorate. The new prime time of the spa came only by the end of the 18th century, when baron Ján Kalis, one of the heirs of the Lietava domain, built a brick house with 14 rooms at significant costs. The spa at those times was divided for gentry, burghers and common people and there were three roofed pools: Noble, Common and Poor.