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Hungary, Harkány

Harkány Spa

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Pécs and surroundings

Pécs is the city of Mediterranean atmosphere It is a treasure-house of science, arts and sacrality.
It had famous and glorious periods but it was also demolished and destroyed, but it still developed in the course of centuries just like the geological layers are built on one another. 
Several values of the Roman times, the Middle Ages, the Turkish occupation and the development of the middle-class are built on one another or next to one another such as Gothic, Renaissance, baroque dwelling houses, Christian churches and Islamic houses of prayer, djamis and minarets, baths and public buildings.

The heritage of the past goes back to the neolithic age. The territory always provided good essential conditions for the different ethnic groups who settled down here, which is proven by the arcaheological findings excavated here. Most relics date back to the Roman times. 
Pannónia was one of the provinces of the growing empire, the town of which called Sopianae - the predecessor of the present-day Pécs - was characterized by busy life. This period of early Christianity is evoked by the Roman and early Christian relics and painted crypts that were excavated around the Cathedral. The early Christian cemetery complex, the size and richness of which is the second most significant after the Italian necropolises, was registered in the list of UNESCO World Heritage in 2000.

After the period of migration, St. Stephen founded an episcopate in Pécs around 1009. Due to the economic and cultural development of the settlement, Pope Urban signed the foundation document of the university during the reign of Lewis the Great, in 1367, - consequently the town of Pécs became the seat of the first university of Hungary. The University of Pécs is still a dominant cultural and scientific centre. The development of the city was shown by the foundation of new factories, too: the Zsolnay ceramics, the Littke champagne and the Angster organ became world-famous.

The city of Pécs mainly attracts visitors owing to its intellectual life, cultural, historical relics and its special style. It will deservedly bear the title "the Cultural Capital of Europe" in 2010. It is famous in Europe for its museums, rich art life, art festivals and artists.

Outstanding museums of Pécs include the Treasury of the Basilica of Pécs, Janus Pannonius Museum, Exhibition of Ethnography, Csontváry Museum, Vasarely Museum, Amerigo Tot Exhibition, Museum of Natural Sciences, Modern Hungarian Gallery I and II, galleries.

In the city, which also hosts the National Theatre Festival, a lot of visitors have already tasted the gastronomic specialities and the famous wine of the Mecsek hills called cirfandli. 
Pécs has exceptional qualities. This can be confirmed by the high number of visitors including business people, scientists, researchers, students, the lovers of history, arts and cultural programmes or tourists wishing to relax here.

Siklós, Máriagyűd & Villány

Siklós 

With 10,875 inhabitants Siklós is the southernmost town of Hungary. The castle, its most significant historic monument, was first mentioned in documents in 1294. Siklós is one of the most intact and homogeneous historic complexes in Hungary. Almost all epochs of the history of architecture: Romanesque, Gothic, Renaissance and Baroque can be seen here. The most outstanding examples are the chapel and the closed balcony on the southern facade. Count Kázmér Batthyány, foreign minister of the Kossuth Government is buried in the chapel. The statue in the garden portrays Dorottya Kanizsai, a former mistress of the castle, who had the victims of the Battle of Mohács buried. The reconstructed Bey Malkocs djami was granted the Europa Nostra award in 1994. The Serbian-Orthodox church with a unique iconostas can also be seen. The baroque Franciscan shrine and church with its Gothic sanctuary is a famous place of pilgrimage.

Exhibitions in the town include: Castle Museum, Town Gallery, Ceramics Studio, local history exhibition. There is an open-air bath in the town. Siklós is extremely rich in sculptures and memorial tablets. In one of the centres of the Villány-Siklós Wine Road visitors are welcome to taste the excellent wines. The medieval parish church with the adjoining monastery stand on the south-eastern part of the Castle Hill. The church, originally built at the beginning of the 14th century for the Augustinian "surpliced canon" then rebuilt several times and finally, after the expulsion of the Turks, it was given to the Franciscan order.

Experts' opinion about the studied and restored frescoes is that "both as a whole and in the fineness of detail they are the most exquisite group of Gothic frescoes in medieval Hungary". In the sanctuary the red marble monument of palatine I. Miklós Garai can be seen. Today the monastery is a Ceramics Studio with a permanent exhibition section. 
The history of the devotional church of Siklós -Máriagyűd goes back to the Roman times. In 1805 Pope Pius VII officially declared it as a place of pilgrimage.

Máriagyűd

The history of the shrine goes back to the Roman age. The busy road connecting Sopianae and Mursa (today - Eszék) ran under the hill, and the spring there served as a place for a rest for travellers. Next to the spring a statue of Mary was erected, later the Christian Slavs placed an altar of Mary here. The village was named after Győd, who was one of the chieftains of the Hungarian tribes arriving here in the 10th century.

In the 11th century a chapel was built in honour of Mary, which was rebuilt in Gothic style in the 15th century and in Baroque style in the 18th century. In 1805 Pope Pius VII. established it as an official place of pilgrimage. East of the devotional church you can find the Holy Well, the water of which was taken home by the pilgrims in the famous jugs of Gyűd. A feast is held here on every Mary's day and on the important religious holidays, i.e. 25-27 times annually. This time the church and its vicinity is visited by many people, the number of which was nearly 500,000 in the past few years.

Villány

Large village with 2,896 inhabitants to the south of Pécs.

It is especially famous for its local red wine that is why it obtained the title of the Town of Wine-yards and Wine. Viniculture can be traced back to some thousand years in this place. The southern slopes are characterized by a Mediterranean climate. The enterprises in the vicinity are united in the Borút Egyesület (Wine Route Association), in order to secure regular high standards in wine supply and wine shops. In addition to wines accommodation is also available in pensions and private boarding houses. 

In the Wine Museum installed in the one-time Tithe-Cellar old equipment and traditions of wine-growing are exhibited.
The quarry in hill Templom-hegyis a nature conservation area. The famous cellar known as "Wine Tunnel", ends in a stalactite cave. 
At the foot of hill Szársomlyó, an interesting park of statues can be visited.  The Roman Catholic church was built in the 15th century.

A trip to Ormánság

This part of Hungary, the so-called Ormánság is a special place of the country, still faithfully displaying the image of the old, rural life of the country. By visiting this village you can get acquainted with the everyday life of the local people, as well as their art through specific files of the local Calvinist church. A beautiful scenery and peaceful paths are ideal for a trip by bicycle.

National Park of Dunav & Drava rivers

The Drava River rises in the frontier of the village of Toblach in the Tirol Alps on the Austrian-Italian border at 1228 m above sea level. After its 695-kilometre-long way it joins the Danube at the Croatian Aljmas at 83 m above sea level.

During its journey it receives 24 major waters. Out of these, the Mura River is the most significant since with its 454 metres it is very close to its receiver in significance. The water regime of the Drava River is formed by the joint forces of the Alpine rivers (Isel and Möll) abounding in water up to the Mura estuary. From this estuary the water regime of Drava is mainly influenced by the Mura.

The Drava River reaches the territory of Hungary at the river km 237 (Drava-Mura estuary) and leaves our country at the river km 70.2 towards Croatia. The distance between these two points is approximately 170 km but the Hungarian-Croatian (joint) reach of the Drava is rather shorter since between the river km-s 227.6 and 198.6 the river runs on the Croatian territory exclusively. The Drava River often crosses the Hungarian-Croatian border (in Somogy and Baranya Counties) and quite often there are Croatian territories on the left bank and Hungarian territories on the right bank. The reason for this is that the present borderline is based partly on the old Drava-branch (from which the present riverbed can be at a significant distance away due to the side-acting erosion) and partly on property relations of earlier centuries.

Originally Drava ran much more North than today; it used to wash the east and west side of the Villányi Mountains. In a document from 1820 the residents of the village of Kákics suffer from the damaging rages of Drava. The old riverbed can still be seen in the bends of the valleys of the territories closer to the Drava River. The Dead-Drava developed gradually from these. Along the bends of the old riverbed we can find the chains of hills that developed from the accumulated fluvial sand and which used to be called urns or trunks. The small villages that characteristically consisted of only one street were built on these. The territory probably got its name from these small hills since it is called Ormánság which is similar to the Hungarian word 'ormány' that means trunk. Where the street bends it simply follows the line of the original riverbed. The church was built on the highest point of the comb.

The washland of the Drava River widens out significantly at its reach in Baranya County. In the territory of the plain the various Holocene silt is the soil-formatting rock. In the Baranya reach of the Drava River the sand and silty-sand deposit is characteristic. Due to the frequent changes of the riverbed the types of soil have a mosaic pattern.

At the time of the Hungarian conquest the Drava River and its surroundings could have been woody up to 60-80 % which later decreased gradually. On the deforested territories marshy meadows developed which were utilised through cutting and/or pasturing. Stock farming was the ancient occupation of the people living here.

The presence of men along the river can be detected from the Neolith Age. In Roman times military roads crossed the territory and the most important points were guarded by fortresses. The river valley proved to be quite suitable to settle down on since the natural resources were favourable for the farming and pastoral lifestyle. The peoples living here have always lived in a close contact with their environment, and they adjusted their lifestyle and farming to the water regime of the Drava. The regression of the traditional flood-plain farming was started by the the river regulations and management. The regulation of the Drava, which particularly affected the area under Barcs, was started in the 18th century. The water-carriage of the 19th century, and the steam-boat transit of passengers that began in the 1860s slowly disappeared after WWII.

The water tours of the Drava River are often the continuances of tours that start from the Mura River and the Kerka River, thus these two rivers should also be mentioned.

The Mura River

The 308-kilometre-long river is the biggest tributary of the Drava joining it at Őrtilos. The water tours of the Drava are often started from the Mura where Letenye, Muraszemenye and Molnár are preferred departure points. In the past few years the water regime of Mura have also become inconstant. The Mura River is not a nature conservation area so a permit to tour can be obtained from the Border Guards Directorate of Nagykanizsa.

Mohács & Szigetvár

Mohács and Szigetvár are both places of great importance for Hungarian history. Battle of Mohács from year 1526. is one of the most painful events of Hungarian history, when the Hungarian troops were defeated by the Turks. Memorial Park in Mohács honors heroes battle.

In Szigetvár there is a fortress in which lived Nikola Subic Zrinski - a well known figure of the Hungarian and Croatian history.

Residence tax is required and payable at the reception 2,5 EUR (per person / day)

Obligatory payment

Tourist tax € 1.27 per person per day should be paid at the hotel reception.

Residence tax is required and payable at the reception 2,5 EUR (per person / day)
Registration is required and payable at the reception 2 EUR per person (once)

Guests can spend enjoyable time in the pool complex stretched over 13.5 acres of arboretum, with 7,600 m² of water surface, with 5000 m² of covered area, with 3 medicinal and 5 swimming pools with attractive sports facilities (2 bubble baths, 2 saunas, 2 steam bath cabin).

This part of South Transdanubia has a very good microclimate with over 2100  hours of sunshine. 

Based on the analyzed mineral ingredients medicinal water of Harkany is one of the simpler sulfuric water, but when compared with other waters in Hungary can be found that it is exceptional in its high dose of oxidized sulfur. The specificity of the water is that it contains carbonyl sulfide which is attached, absorbs and heals much faster than other sulphides. Based on the above, water is used in the treatment of rheumatic, muscle, gynecological and dermatological diseases.

Harkány Thermal Water

The hot springs at Harkány unique in Europe bubble up from the ground from a depth of 50–70 metres, at an average temperature of 62 °C Its mineral content is more than 1000 miligrams per litre. The most valuable component from a medicinal point of view is a compound having bivalent sulphur, carbon sulphide (COS), which, as a gas, is in solution and under pressure in the water. When the water comes to the surface, the gas is released from under the pressure and immediately begins todecompose, it turns into hydrogen sulphide gas, which is responsible for the characteristic odour.

In a side-light, the precipitated tiny grains of elementary sulphur can be plainly observed in the ponds. Approximately 12 mg carbon sulphide can be found in 1 litre of water. By the way, this compound had not been known before, it was discovered here during the chemical analysis of the water in the 1860s. It is very actively absorbed both through the skin and via breathing: its absorption is 150 times as effective as that of tetravalent sulphuric compounds (sulphates).     

In our bodies, the bivalent sulphuric atoms are important components of the organic molecules making up the articular cartilage. 90 per cent of patients complaining of a locomotor disorder, suffer from degenerative spinal and articular conditions. First of all, the joints bearing the greatest load: the glassy cartilage in the hips, knees, and ankles get damaged. The mechanical overload (as, for example, in case of an overweight body) is manifest in increased clinical symptoms, such as swelling, pain, difficulty of locomotion. The sulphur getting into the system – which is demonstrably well metabolized – has an important role in the re-composition of the organic compounds making up the cartilage. That is the chemical effect of the medicinal water. Beyond that, the buoyancy in the water, the hydrostatic pressure – through which the weight of the body decreases and the load on the joints is also less – the hydrodynamic effect, and the thermal effect also have roles in the healing power.

But sufferers from chronic gynaecological inflammations also get healed here. According to earlier studies, 30 per cent of sterile woman treated here got later pregnant.

 

Water chemistry data  
Natrium 160 mg/l
Kalium 15 mg/l
Ammonium 2,9 mg/l
Calcium 53,4 mg/l
Magnesium 20 mg/l
Kationty 251,3 mg/l
Chloride 108 mg/l
Bromide 0,40 mg/l
Jodide 0,13 mg/l
Fluoride 1,1 mg/l
Hydrogencarbonate 525 mg/l
Sulphide 13 mg/l
Fosfat 13 mg/l

 

Curative treatments

The thermal baths boast an independent medicinal department of high quality and properly qualified personnel. More than 800 patients can be treated a day. An especially great stress is put on the proper application of up-to-date natural healing methods, if necessary, combined With drug treatment. Our establishment has a contract with OEP (approx. = NHS in Britain) so patients having a referral are received as well. Those who have contracts with private health insurance companies may also take advantage of our services, their referrals are also accepted. 

Lymphdrainage

A special kind of massage applied on the limbs pathologically swollen because of the disorder of the lymphatic circulation, in order to improve said circulation. With this special massaging technique it is possible to effectively treat oedema. 

Curative massage

While being applied, it slackens the muscle-tone,improves the blood circulation, speeds up the removal of the mediators that keep up the inflammed condition, so the inflammed state is reduced and, thus also the muscular pain. The effect can be further enhanced by special therapeutic gymnastics. Guests can avail themselves of this service without a prior medicalcheck-up.

Effervescent tub-bath

Owing to the vasodilatory effect of the carbon dioxide introduced into the medicinal water, the peripheral circulation improves, the cardiac capacity increases. The carbonic tub-bath is, first of all, meant for our guests whocannot take advantage of the pools with warmer water because they need treatment for some cardiac or vascular condition.

Tangentor (underwater massage with a water jet)

On an area of the body surface designated and in a manner prescribed by a doctor, through stimulating the damaged muscles by a water jet, an attempt is made to restore their normal functioning. This service needn’t be preceded by a medical examination. 

Sludge treatment

During this procedure, it is not only the extended thermal effect but also the biologically active materials absorbed through the skin from the mud that have a beneficial end-result. Besides having a remarkable anti-inflammatory effect, a speciality of our method is that the sterile natural mud is steeped in medicinal water of Harkány. The sludge is used in a filter pack, which makes treatment more comfortable for the guests. 

Curative gymnastics, exercises

Locomotor disorders developed out of different causes can be  palliated and, not infrequently, totally cured. Highly qualified physicotherapists help the patients to carry out the proper movements required in the much-varied situations. We think it important that we should teach the different sets of movements and exercises in such a way that the guests may continue doing the exercises later, at home.

Electrotherapy

In the treatment of locomotor disorders and rheumatism, it is indispensable. Ultrasonic, galvanic, TENS treatment, magneto-therapy, iontophoreses, and electric stimulation palliate the patients’ pain and make their locomotion easier. 

The specialists at the baths always prescribe the optimal combination of the available treatments.

Natural healing treatments

During the renovation of the Spa of Harkány there was built the natural healing department where medical examinations and treatments are waiting for patients who prefer alternative healing methods.The natural healing methods are rooted back to ancient times. The side effects of medicines call the attention that the ancient natural methods have their place in the modern healing. The modern medicine is primarily concentrates on symptomatic healing, the natural medicine looks for the causes and heals them with the tools of nature and thus there is no  drastic intervention in the body’s immune system.

The man of the modern age fights with different kind of sickness, toxins,  chemical agents, additive materials,etc. All of these are weakening our immune system and so the harmony ceases to exist. To set back the harmony in our body, that is our main aim and we would like to help you with the following alternative healing methods:

Ear candling

Ear candle evokes the 2000 years old healing tool. It is not only a remedy for ear complaints but it can reduce the inflammations, pains appearing in the body. It is recommended for tinnitus, rhinitis, sinusitis, and patients with complaints of dizziness as well.

Cupping therapy

Cupping therapy is a well-known phrase nowadays, but only few people know that how far roots back the origin of it. Cupping therapy is the method of using glass or plastic cups to create localized pressure by a vacuum. With the excitation of peripherial, autonomic and sensory skin reflex zones ( Head’s zones)on the back, it can stimulate various kind of internal organ’s functions while also spasms ease, for instance, abdominal pain, asthmatic cough can be controlled. By an intensive cure it functions as a vasodilator, in this case it increases local blood flow and so the subsidence of accumulated toxins in the skin, connective tissue, muscle can be decomposed. The therapy is recommended in the following cases: headache, migraine, depression, back pain, obesity, chronic lung disease, respiratory infections, gastro-intestinal problems, gall bladder / liver disease, urinary / sexual organs diseases.

Reflex-zone massage

 On the legs the state of different organs and bodyparts is reflected. Therefore with the massage of the different zones on the legs appears congestion in the given organs. It promotes the circulation of the lymphatic organs, thus contributing to the selection of waste material, strengthens the immune system.

Body massage with honey

Special cure of detoxication, strong effect of waste material removal. Rejuvenating the skin, makes it taut, improves the skin’s flexibility.

Chocolate massage

Chocolate massage is a really deep, relaxing treatment during which the body and the soul can release all of the tension and occasional pain. Chocolate, which has been treated as an aphrodisiac since centuries, has antioxidant effects, thus it can prevent the damaging of cells and slow down ageing. It also provides essential minerals and moisturizes and tightens the skin, which then becomes smooth and silky. Through its well known endorphin producing effects chocolate helps the harmonic revitalization of the skin, the body and the soul.

Body massage with vacuum

In the vacuum congestion appears on the  treated surface which improves the metabolism of the tissues and the excess fat is burnt off. It is recommanded for cellulite and to remove the stripes formed on slackened skin.

harkany-hotel
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  • Wellness hotel
Hungary, Harkány

Dráva Hotel Thermal Resort****