Rimske Toplice, Laško
Encyclopedia
Rimske Toplice is a settlement in the Municipality
of Laško
in eastern Slovenia
. It lies on the right bank of the Savinja
River on the road from Celje
to Ljubljana
via Zidani Most
. The location of Rimske Toplice is surrounded by wooded slopes of the nearby mountains, providing shelter against wind and summer heat, and supporting rich vegetation of exotic plants from all over the world. These include giant sequoias, Canadian hemlocks, cypresses and Californian cedars. The town is also the birthplace of the Slovenian poet Anton Aškerc
. The area was traditionally part of the Lower Styria
region. It is now included with the rest of the municipality into the Savinja statistical region
.
The local parish church
is dedicated to Saint Margaret
and belongs to the Roman Catholic Diocese of Celje
. It is a 13th-century building that has been rebuilt over the centuries. A second church, built on a small hill to the west of the main settlement is dedicated to Our Lady of Lourdes
and belongs to the same parish. It was built between 1885 and 1886.
. They enjoyed the benefits and healing power on the right bank of the Savinja
River, where there are still thermal springs under Stražnik Hill (655 m), rising from triassic
dolomite rock fissures in Rimske Toplice. Monuments and sacrificial altars devoted to goddesses and nymphs as thanksgiving for the convalescence of ancient guests, found between 1769 and 1845, provide evidence of this.
The spas were first mentioned in written documents dating to 1486, the Aquilea Document. The spas were owned by the Habsburgs for 30 years and then by the Counts of Celje
(1456) together with the Laško
Estate. Through history the baths owners changed numerous times. The first turnabout in the spa's history was in 1840, when the former wholesale merchant from Trieste
Gustav Adolf Uhlich bought the spas on behalf of his wife Amalia because he was healed by the healing power of the thermal water there. This was when what had been a modest health resort was turned into the modern spas and given the name Rimske Toplice ('Roman Spas'). For the needs of the spa, two large wells were regulated and named Amalia's Spring (38.4 °C) and Roman Spring (36.3 °C). With the construction of the Sophia Manor, the number of rooms increased from 38 to 100 at first and then to over 200. On the even plateau with a chestnut tree promenade there was a spa church on one side and an orchestra pavilion on the other side. In the afternoon the orchestra played out in the open, on evenings in the spa salon. There was a billiard room, a tennis court in a nearby wood and on a steep meadow a roofed bowling alley. Because the Vienna
–Trieste
railroad passed Rimske Toplice after 1848; more guests visited the place, all of them better-off people from Trieste
, Hungary
, Zagreb
, or even the United States. Most of them were Germans from all over the monarchy. A sensation for all of them was the visit of the British
princess and Prussian
heiress Victoria, who stayed at Rimske Toplice in 1879, using it as a starting point for trips in the surrounding countryside. The most distinguished guests had the habit of planting exotic trees in the spa’s park, so even nowadays you can see huge sequoias, Canadian hemlocks, cypresses, California
n cedars, and other interesting species.
Russia
n prisoners of war built a 2 km promenade through the forest (The Roman Path) during the First World War
. Open thermal baths from 1931 were an important achievement. During the Second World War the spa was occupied by wounded German
soldiers and the owner (a member of the Uhlich family) and his family moved away at the end of the war.
After that the Yugoslav
Peoples' Army used the spa for healing and rehabilitation of its soldiers. The spas have never been fully utilized by common Slovenian people. Although the Uhlich Family were good masters and
turned the humble bath into spas of world reputation, they dominated over the local population. Also when Yugoslav Peoples' Army managed the spas, they were more or less inaccessible to the local people.
From 1991 onwards, after the Yugoslav Peoples' Army left, attempts were made to revive Rimske Toplice. Finally, on 17 November 2005 the thermal spas once again opened their doors to guests, with the Medical Rehabilitation Center aiding the revival of the town's fortunes.
Municipality
A municipality is essentially an urban administrative division having corporate status and usually powers of self-government. It can also be used to mean the governing body of a municipality. A municipality is a general-purpose administrative subdivision, as opposed to a special-purpose district...
of Laško
Laško
Laško is a spa town and municipality in eastern Slovenia. Traditionally the area was part of the Lower Styria region. The municipality is now included in the Savinja statistical region. The town is located at the foothills of the Hum hill on the Savinja River. It is first mentioned in written...
in eastern Slovenia
Slovenia
Slovenia , officially the Republic of Slovenia , is a country in Central and Southeastern Europe touching the Alps and bordering the Mediterranean. Slovenia borders Italy to the west, Croatia to the south and east, Hungary to the northeast, and Austria to the north, and also has a small portion of...
. It lies on the right bank of the Savinja
Savinja
The Savinja is a river in northeast Slovenia which flows mostly in the Upper and Lower Savinja valley and through the cities of Celje and Laško. The Savinja is the main river of the Savinja Alps . It flows into Sava River at the town of Zidani Most. It has often flooded, such as in the 1960s,...
River on the road from Celje
Celje
Celje is a typical Central European town and the third largest town in Slovenia. It is a regional center of Lower Styria and the administrative seat of the Urban Municipality of Celje . The town of Celje is located under Upper Celje Castle at the confluence of the Savinja, Ložnica, and Voglajna...
to Ljubljana
Ljubljana
Ljubljana is the capital of Slovenia and its largest city. It is the centre of the City Municipality of Ljubljana. It is located in the centre of the country in the Ljubljana Basin, and is a mid-sized city of some 270,000 inhabitants...
via Zidani Most
Zidani Most
Zidani Most is a settlement in the Municipality of Laško in eastern Slovenia. It lies at the confluence of the Sava and Savinja rivers. The area was traditionally part of the Lower Styria region. It is now included with the rest of the municipality in the Savinja statistical region. It is an...
. The location of Rimske Toplice is surrounded by wooded slopes of the nearby mountains, providing shelter against wind and summer heat, and supporting rich vegetation of exotic plants from all over the world. These include giant sequoias, Canadian hemlocks, cypresses and Californian cedars. The town is also the birthplace of the Slovenian poet Anton Aškerc
Anton Aškerc
Anton Aškerc was a Slovene poet and Roman Catholic priest, best known for his epic poems.Aškerc was born into a peasant family near the town of Rimske Toplice in the Duchy of Styria, then part of the Austrian Empire . His exact birthplace is unknown because his family was on the move at the time...
. The area was traditionally part of the Lower Styria
Lower Styria
Lower Styria or Slovenian Styria is a traditional region in northeastern Slovenia, comprising the southern third of the former Duchy of Styria. The population of Lower Styria in its historical boundaries amounts to around 705,000 inhabitants, or 34.5% of the population of Slovenia...
region. It is now included with the rest of the municipality into the Savinja statistical region
Savinjska statistical region
The Savinja statistical region is a statistical region in Slovenia. The largest town in the region is Celje. It is named after the Savinja River....
.
The local parish church
Parish church
A parish church , in Christianity, is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish, the basic administrative unit of episcopal churches....
is dedicated to Saint Margaret
Margaret the Virgin
Margaret the Virgin, also known as Margaret of Antioch , virgin and martyr, is celebrated as a saint by the Roman Catholic and Anglican Churches on July 20; and on July 17 in the Orthodox Church. Her historical existence has been questioned; she was declared apocryphal by Pope Gelasius I in 494,...
and belongs to the Roman Catholic Diocese of Celje
Roman Catholic Diocese of Celje
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Celje ; is a diocese located in the city of Celje in the Ecclesiastical province of Maribor in Slovenia.-Leadership:* Bishops of Celje ** Anton Stres...
. It is a 13th-century building that has been rebuilt over the centuries. A second church, built on a small hill to the west of the main settlement is dedicated to Our Lady of Lourdes
Our Lady of Lourdes
Our Lady of Lourdes is the name used to refer to the Marian apparition said to have appeared before various individuals on separate occasions around Lourdes, France...
and belongs to the same parish. It was built between 1885 and 1886.
Thermal spas
The healing power of natural springs was valued by the RomansAncient Rome
Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....
. They enjoyed the benefits and healing power on the right bank of the Savinja
Savinja
The Savinja is a river in northeast Slovenia which flows mostly in the Upper and Lower Savinja valley and through the cities of Celje and Laško. The Savinja is the main river of the Savinja Alps . It flows into Sava River at the town of Zidani Most. It has often flooded, such as in the 1960s,...
River, where there are still thermal springs under Stražnik Hill (655 m), rising from triassic
Triassic
The Triassic is a geologic period and system that extends from about 250 to 200 Mya . As the first period of the Mesozoic Era, the Triassic follows the Permian and is followed by the Jurassic. Both the start and end of the Triassic are marked by major extinction events...
dolomite rock fissures in Rimske Toplice. Monuments and sacrificial altars devoted to goddesses and nymphs as thanksgiving for the convalescence of ancient guests, found between 1769 and 1845, provide evidence of this.
The spas were first mentioned in written documents dating to 1486, the Aquilea Document. The spas were owned by the Habsburgs for 30 years and then by the Counts of Celje
Celje
Celje is a typical Central European town and the third largest town in Slovenia. It is a regional center of Lower Styria and the administrative seat of the Urban Municipality of Celje . The town of Celje is located under Upper Celje Castle at the confluence of the Savinja, Ložnica, and Voglajna...
(1456) together with the Laško
Laško
Laško is a spa town and municipality in eastern Slovenia. Traditionally the area was part of the Lower Styria region. The municipality is now included in the Savinja statistical region. The town is located at the foothills of the Hum hill on the Savinja River. It is first mentioned in written...
Estate. Through history the baths owners changed numerous times. The first turnabout in the spa's history was in 1840, when the former wholesale merchant from Trieste
Trieste
Trieste is a city and seaport in northeastern Italy. It is situated towards the end of a narrow strip of land lying between the Adriatic Sea and Italy's border with Slovenia, which lies almost immediately south and east of the city...
Gustav Adolf Uhlich bought the spas on behalf of his wife Amalia because he was healed by the healing power of the thermal water there. This was when what had been a modest health resort was turned into the modern spas and given the name Rimske Toplice ('Roman Spas'). For the needs of the spa, two large wells were regulated and named Amalia's Spring (38.4 °C) and Roman Spring (36.3 °C). With the construction of the Sophia Manor, the number of rooms increased from 38 to 100 at first and then to over 200. On the even plateau with a chestnut tree promenade there was a spa church on one side and an orchestra pavilion on the other side. In the afternoon the orchestra played out in the open, on evenings in the spa salon. There was a billiard room, a tennis court in a nearby wood and on a steep meadow a roofed bowling alley. Because the Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
–Trieste
Trieste
Trieste is a city and seaport in northeastern Italy. It is situated towards the end of a narrow strip of land lying between the Adriatic Sea and Italy's border with Slovenia, which lies almost immediately south and east of the city...
railroad passed Rimske Toplice after 1848; more guests visited the place, all of them better-off people from Trieste
Trieste
Trieste is a city and seaport in northeastern Italy. It is situated towards the end of a narrow strip of land lying between the Adriatic Sea and Italy's border with Slovenia, which lies almost immediately south and east of the city...
, Hungary
Hungary
Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...
, Zagreb
Zagreb
Zagreb is the capital and the largest city of the Republic of Croatia. It is in the northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the Medvednica mountain. Zagreb lies at an elevation of approximately above sea level. According to the last official census, Zagreb's city...
, or even the United States. Most of them were Germans from all over the monarchy. A sensation for all of them was the visit of the British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
princess and Prussian
Kingdom of Prussia
The Kingdom of Prussia was a German kingdom from 1701 to 1918. Until the defeat of Germany in World War I, it comprised almost two-thirds of the area of the German Empire...
heiress Victoria, who stayed at Rimske Toplice in 1879, using it as a starting point for trips in the surrounding countryside. The most distinguished guests had the habit of planting exotic trees in the spa’s park, so even nowadays you can see huge sequoias, Canadian hemlocks, cypresses, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
n cedars, and other interesting species.
Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
n prisoners of war built a 2 km promenade through the forest (The Roman Path) during the First World War
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
. Open thermal baths from 1931 were an important achievement. During the Second World War the spa was occupied by wounded German
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
soldiers and the owner (a member of the Uhlich family) and his family moved away at the end of the war.
After that the Yugoslav
Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia
The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia was the Yugoslav state that existed from the abolition of the Yugoslav monarchy until it was dissolved in 1992 amid the Yugoslav Wars. It was a socialist state and a federation made up of six socialist republics: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia,...
Peoples' Army used the spa for healing and rehabilitation of its soldiers. The spas have never been fully utilized by common Slovenian people. Although the Uhlich Family were good masters and
turned the humble bath into spas of world reputation, they dominated over the local population. Also when Yugoslav Peoples' Army managed the spas, they were more or less inaccessible to the local people.
From 1991 onwards, after the Yugoslav Peoples' Army left, attempts were made to revive Rimske Toplice. Finally, on 17 November 2005 the thermal spas once again opened their doors to guests, with the Medical Rehabilitation Center aiding the revival of the town's fortunes.