Just like many other walks in the High Tatras, a visit to Starý Smokovec offers several options to fully spend a relaxing day. Whether you want to view architectural gems, go on more or less challenging ascents in the surrounding terrain, or visit pleasant cafes and restaurants. However, not everyone knows about one of the treasures. The locals won’t let it go, it will surprise visitors with its freshness and delicious taste – Smokovec kyselka springing from a spring under Slavkovský štít.
The Tatras have been shrouded in many legends and superstitions since ancient times. The local people believed in extraordinary beings to whom they attributed extraordinary abilities, they were even convinced that supernatural forces were also behind the creation of the mountain itself. Therefore, it is not surprising that they also associated the local mineral spring with miraculous phenomena and believed in the miraculous power of the water springing from it. In addition to its power, they were also convinced that near it one could come across a hushvai – a mythical creature that took the form of a black water bird (resembling a crow or a chicken). Therefore, hundreds of years ago, they brought gifts to the spring in order to secure the favor of this god.
Smokovecká kiselka with its sour taste and high proportion of beneficial elements for health (such as carbon dioxide, iron, calcium, salt…) represents water of exceptional quality. Experts were already aware of this in the 18th century. It is for this reason that the oldest Tatra settlement, Starý Smokovec (then only Smokovec), gradually began to “grow up”, which is currently an administrative and tourist center, but also an important transport hub of the High Tatras. The first built building was the hunting lodge of Count Csáky from 1793, to whom the local forests belonged at that time. It is quite funny that it was the “ordinary” water – springing almost literally in the middle of the forest – that began, so to speak, to write the history of the city of Vysoké Tatry and, not even a century later, influenced the creation of the spa, the rumor about which spread throughout Europe. “Slavkovské acid waters” – the springs that later, in the second half of the 19th century, were named Kastor and Pollux – became the basis of the famous Tatra hydrotherapy. The patients underwent it in the form of baths in pools/tubs with showers and fresh, about 6-degree water. And to make the effect even more pronounced, in addition to hardening, they also drank it. As it is known, sorrel treats nervous disorders, diseases of the locomotor and skin systems and also supports digestion.
You can confirm for yourself that the superlatives about the local mineral water are justified on your next visit. You can find a spring with drinking water above the bus station in Stary Smokovec (above the Tricklandia gallery and Sintra grocery store). It is freely accessible to the public, several hiking trails lead to it and you can recognize it by the characteristic gazebo, near which you can sit and enjoy both the delicious taste of the drink and the extraordinary views of the Tatras. And if you’re lucky, you might even catch a glimpse of a fairy who has been staying here for ages, patiently waiting for her lover to come and rescue her.
TATRA MINERAL
Today, the spring of Smokovecká kyselka is freely accessible and very popular with local residents and tourists. In 2017, the water from the spring began to be filled in a newly opened filler into ecological glass bottles and is available in selected restaurants, hotels and gastronomic establishments under the name TATRANSKÁ MINERÁLKA. The exceptionality of mineral water lies primarily in its absolute purity. The world’s uniqueness results from the fact that it does not contain any microbiological pollution. It has an incredibly balanced and at the same time ideal low content of soluble minerals, which predestines it for all-day drinking. It is equally suitable for children and adults. Its composition is mainly due to the spring’s altitude and the bedrock through which it springs – granite! Its delicious and unmistakable taste is mainly due to the ideal content of natural carbon dioxide (CO2). Over the years, Tatra mineral water has certainly become a symbol of quality hospitality at events of all kinds.
