The history of the spa

His lifestyle was, however, marked by partying and all sorts of entertainment. As debts were piling, Stanisław Małachowski was forced to sell the Nałęczów estate to his distant relative named Antoni Małachowski, who, as it happened, suffered from gout. The new owner appreciated the beneficial effects of the local water springs, as at that time ferruginous water was commonly used to treat this illness. In 1817, a professor of the Warsaw University, Józef Celiński, in his work entitled “Rozbiór wód mineralnych nałęczowskich” (“Typology of waters of Nałęczów”) confirmed the healing qualities of the local waters. His scientific research laid the foundations for the establishment and development of the health resort in Nałęczów.

Such were the beginnings of the bathing establishment which quickly became very popular. Next, however, as the successive owners took over the place, its glory gradually waned. The turning point in the history of the health resort came only after several decades, in 1877. At that time Dr Fortunat Nowicki made an attempt to revive the place through a company established jointly with Dr Konrad Chmielewski and Dr Wacław Lesocki. Nowicki’s aim was to turn the dilapidated town into a true health resort. In autumn 1878, Małachowski Palace was completely renovated, with an added restaurant and a reading room. The old park was revitalised and extended to include new areas. The Baths, the hydropathic facility (that is the former guest house) and the hotel (the former inn) were restored. An outlet of the ferruginous water spring was identified, and a tower adjacent to the Baths was erected right over it. Also, a pharmacy was placed in the so-called Bishop’s Manor. 

Then, for almost thirty years, Bolesław Prus would regularly return to Nałęczów for his summer holidays. It was there that he wrote the most important parts of his “Lalka” (“The Doll”) novel, gathered material for his other works such as “Placówka” (“The Outpost”) and “Emancypantki” (“The New Woman”), and in his “Kroniki Tygodniowe” (“Weekly Chronicles”) he would systematically praise the health resort and its medium-mineralised ferruginous waters which were able to heal patients’ hearts (as a heart was interpreted in the Romantic spirit as “the gateway to one’s soul”). Thus, the place became attractive for “patients suffering from wrecked nerves” or, to put it another way, for the “restless souls”, such as Sienkiewicz, Oppman, Przerwa-Tetmajer, Przybyszewski or Żeromski.

During the World War II, the spa park was destroyed, and then rebuilt and extended in the 1950s and 1960s. Today, the specific microclimate still helps the visitors to Nałęczów to restore their inner balance and calm their sensitive hearts and worried souls, while the 19^th  century villas murmur stories about their former owners and the great literary works which were created there.