Hévíz is a

spa A spa is a location where mineral-rich spring water (and sometimes seawater) is used to give medicinal baths. Spa towns or spa resorts (including hot springs resorts) typically offer various health treatments, which are also known as balneoth ...

town in

Zala County Zala ( hu, Zala megye, ; ; ) is an administrative county (comitatus or ''megye'') in south-western Hungary. It is named after the Zala River. It shares borders with Croatia ( Koprivnica–Križevci and Međimurje Counties) and Slovenia (Lendava ...

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia a ...

, about from

Keszthely Keszthely (; also known by other alternative names) is a Hungarian city of 20,895 inhabitants located on the western shore of Lake Balaton. It is the second largest city by the lake and one of the more important cultural, educational and economi ...

Description of the lake

The town is located near

Lake Hévíz Lake Hévíz is located in Hévíz, Hungary, near the western end of Lake Balaton, from Keszthely. It is the largest swimmable thermal lake in the world ( in area), second only to Frying Pan Lake in New Zealand, which is too hot for swimming. T ...

, the world’s second-largest

thermal lake A hot spring, hydrothermal spring, or geothermal spring is a spring produced by the emergence of geothermally heated groundwater onto the surface of the Earth. The groundwater is heated either by shallow bodies of magma (molten rock) or by circ ...

, but biologically the biggest active

natural lake A lake is an area filled with water, localized in a basin, surrounded by land, and distinct from any river or other outlet that serves to feed or drain the lake. Lakes lie on land and are not part of the ocean, although, like the much larger ...

. Its temperature is affected by the combination of hot and cold spring waters, coming from 38 meters underground. The water breaks out from a spring cave, at approximately 410 liters per second, with a temperature of . The biological stability of the lake is shown by the temperature of the water, which has not changed for years and even on the coldest winter days doesn’t drop below . That makes bathing possible in the lake year round. In the summer, the water temperature can reach .

History

The lake's healing properties have been well known for centuries by people who lived here, as far back as the end of the

Stone Age The Stone Age was a broad prehistoric period during which stone was widely used to make tools with an edge, a point, or a percussion surface. The period lasted for roughly 3.4 million years, and ended between 4,000 BC and 2,000 BC, with t ...

. The foundation of bath culture was laid by the Romans in the 2nd century. The city and the bath began developing significantly in the 18th century, related to the

Festetics family The House of Festetics (singular, not plural) or Feštetić in Croatian is the name of a historic family which dates back to 1566 of Hungarian counts and princes of Croatian origin. A prominent family during the Austro-Hungarian Empire, they are mo ...

, who started scientific research about using the water for healing.

Attractions to the city

The city provides facilities for visitors seeking to use the medicinal waters of the lake, including entertainment, hotels, parks, and sports. * Dr. Schulhof Vilmos Promenade * Pedestrian Zone * Building of the City-hall * Church from the Arpadian age * Heart of Jesus church * Holy Spirit Catholic Church * Calvinist church * Art Cinema * Local collections - museum * Cafeterias * Egregy Wine Cellars * Museum of Egregy * Tomb of the Roman soldier * Roman ruin garden * Farmers' market of Hévíz * Calvary in Egregy * Water lily nauter trail and treetop walkway

Gallery

Heviz3.jpg Heviz2.jpg Heviz1.jpg Heviz lake HMTE.jpg Hévízi-tó ősszel.jpg Hévíz 1.jpg Cafeterias Hévíz.jpg Calvinist Church Hévíz.jpg Heart of Jesus Church Hévíz.jpg Pedestrian street Hévíz.jpg Ruins of the Roman era Hévíz.jpg The fairy of the lake Hévíz.JPG

References

External links