History

Veľký Choč was once an unlimited ruler of a wide and uninhabited region. Deep, dark woods and some green meadows spread below it. It was only later that people came here with flocks of sheep and wandered from place to place, looking for good grass for the sheep to graze. They were Wallachians, free people. One of the valleys below Choč had many fertile meadows and got its name from them: Lúčanka (“the meadow valley”). The wandering Wallachians came here as well. There was plenty of tasty pasture here so the Wallachians settled here permanently.

The sheep of one shepherd who would take his flock to meadows below Malý Choč was extremely healthy and had a lot of milk. But one day one of his sheep suddenly got sick in its hind legs. It just dragged them along, couldn’t move them, and only grazed lying. The shepherd was really worried. He took great care of the sheep, always carrying it to places with plenty of tasty pasture, feeding it with medicinal herbs, but nothing helped it.

One cold autumn day the shepherd saw his sheep going toa spring which was running in a thick stream froma high rock. And when he looked more closely, he saw white vapour coming fromthe spring. He came closer to thespring, put his hand in it, andquickly took it out again. The water was hot. Andthen he thought of the sick sheep. He took it in his arms andput its hind legs into the hot spring. And, after he had done it a few times, the sheep´s legs miraculously began to get better, and then the sheep recovered completely.

The shepherd told his friends about the miracle and the news spread quickly. People who had health problems with their arms and legs began to go to the spring. And the spring became a real blessing for them. But the noblemen from Likava Castle also learned about the spring and took immediate action. The spring was channelled to a fenced pit in which people suffering from gout could bathe. And so Spa Lúčky was created from this spring.

Source: Miroslav A. Huska - Liptovské Povesti, Stredoslovenské vydavateľstvo, 1965.

The healing effect of mineral springs, which even today are among the basic therapeutic treatments at the spa, has been known for a long time and has not just been discovered by modern medical science. Centuries of experience with the healing properties of the springs prove that they were sought by ill people already ages ago. In the 18th century, all thermal and cold springs in Liptov were known, but there was a lack of deeper knowledge about the nature and properties of the waters. Some mineral springs were known to have healing properties. They were actually natural waters that contained minerals. Knowledge of the waters was passed down from generation to generation and tradition played a role. Drinking and spa treatment was applied gradually. Thermal springs in particular began to be used for healing and spa facilities were built gradually.

At the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, the spa in Lúčky regained its popularity and prospered to a certain extent, which meant maintaining and sometimes even increasing the number of visitors, even though it was a smaller resort. Clients came here from the USA, Tsarist Russia, Vienna, Budapest, Romania, the Czech Republic.....

In September 1912 the shareholders from Lúčky submitted an application to the public administration committee of Liptov County for inclusion of Lúčky among the healing spas in the Hungarian Monarchy. In a five-page-long submission, they detailed the importance of the healing waters that had brought back health to many ill people. In the opinion of the chief official, the spa was suitable for classification as therapeutic, as it was equipped to a reasonable standard.

With its treatments, which included drinking mineral water, bathing in the healing spring, massages and various combinations, Lúčky returned health to various social classes. In 1916 a renowned expert, Dr. Viliam Hanko from Budapest, a member of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, contributed to a new classification and chemical analysis of the mineral waters in Lúčky.

The Workers' Social Insurance Company in Bratislava played an important role in the development of Slovak spas. According to the law, it cared for the health of the insured persons and their families. From its resources it built and established hospitals and sanatoriums and improved spa centres. The beginning of the socialist era in the history of the spa industry was marked by Act No. 125 of 6 May 1948. Natural healing resources and spas were nationalised. The state thus acquired the right to dispose of the mineral springs and gained ownership of the spa property. Nationalisation ended in 1950. In the 1960s, new construction began, which increased the capacity of the spa and changed the overall appearance of the spa area.