After nearly three decades Sárvár is the first municipality able to meet the extremely strict demands of becoming a spa town. Sárvár had to show the results of strenuous and conscious work of long decades based on unique aspects in the course of the process.Sárvár passed the exam with flying colours and it was 19 October 2012 when Sárvár received the certificate during a festive event. After a one-year-long process two areas named “Sárvár – medical miracle” and “Sárvár – Arboretum” were certified as spa resorts.
The self-government body of Sárvár decided in spring 2011 to apply for the title of a spa town in order to bolster its role in medical tourism. The inventory showed 13 spa resorts and the last certification process took place 1984. The self-government empowered the Aquaprofit Holding to be in charge of managing the process and the decree about having won this prestigious title arrived in the beginning of October.
Chief Medical Officer Dr. Judit Paller, the representative of the institute responsible for the certification process, the National Office of Chief Medical Officers of the National Public Health and Medical Officer Service (ÁNTSZ) presented the certificate to István Kondora, the mayor of Sárvár, saying that two areas of the town, the spa and its surrounding green areas and the Arboretum, were declared spa resorts.
Chief Medical Officer Dr. Judit Paller, the representative of the institute responsible for the certification process, the National Office of Chief Medical Officers of the National Public Health and Medical Officer Service (ÁNTSZ) presented the certificate to István Kondora, the mayor of Sárvár, saying that two areas of the town, the spa and its surrounding green areas and the Arboretum, were declared spa resorts.
The road was long from finding medical water to gaining the certificate of a spa town. Both the leadership of the town and private investors were motivated by the common goal of developing tourism. Medical water has been present in the life of Sárvár since 1961, when valuable water found while drilling for oil. In Sárvár there are two kinds of water: in the pools there is a water with a temperature of 43° C coming from 1.200 metres of depth, the other with a temperature of 83° C, coming from a depth of 2.000 metres, containing sodium-chloride, hydrogen-carbonate, iodine, brome, fluor and other micronutrients.
The medical water based tourism became stronger from the beginning of the 1980ies. The already established spa and camping had 160 thousand visitors. At that time there was a sports field on the spot of the spa now. The foundations for the Danubisu Thermal Hotel were laid 1983 and it opened its gates 1985 in form of an Austrian-Hungarian cooperation.
The Sárvár Medical and Wellness Spa opened its gates 2002, thus enhancing the town’s position on the health tourism market and bolstering its tourism. The spa became 2004, as the only Hungarian spa, a member of the Royal Spas of Europe. In April 2007 the spa won the prestigious EuropeSpa-Med quality award, 2008 the Certifying Committee of the Hungarian Spa’s Association ranked it into the highest, four-star category. 2010 phase two of the spa development was implemented, thus with the help of an investment amounting to 3 billion HUF, the spa became a family spa with 720 thousand visitors 2011.
The remarkable developments brought along several new hotels (VitalMed Hotel, Park Inn Hotel, Spirit Hotel), but also new pensions and apartments. Accommodation facilities were expanded as 2001 there were only a mere 26.000 guests, the 444.000 visitors 2011. made the town the 7th on the list of most popular municipalities in Hungary.
By 2011 the town was able to win the award of a spa town. Its natural features meet the criteria for winning such a title: its medical water is certified and excellent; its surroundings are structured, its air is excellent; noise level is below permitted border values. However, also the socio-economic conditions are given: the spa is known in Hungary and abroad; the town is prestigious and a target of domestic and foreign tourism; there is neither polluting industry, nor other polluting economic activities; there is a sufficient number of accommodation facilities of the right quality.
The Renaissance castle located on the southern side of Kossuth Square is one of Hungary’s most outstanding monuments, the town’s symbol.
The present day castle has developed from the three-storey, 13th century dwelling tower in its southwest corner and the single-storey northern wing. The castle’s first mention is from 1288. The next great building operations took place in the second half of the 15th century, in Gothic style. During the times of the Kanizsai family a three-storey dwelling structure adorned with representative objects and suitable for nobility was raised where the southern wing stands today. The lower level of the present-day gate-tower was created at the end of the 15th century. By the beginning of the 16th century the large, closed courtyard came into existence, while the castle’s protection, apart from its natural assets, was assured by earth ramparts with notched planks. Between 1534 and 1671 the Nádasdy family owned the castle. As a result of the Renaissance style constructions the castle’s current form took shape.
The ceiling frescoes of the Great Hall were done in 1653. The defensive system of Old Italian style bastions that can be seen today was built between 1588 and 1615. The ceiling frescoes of the Great Hall were created by Hans Rudolf Miller, while the wall pictures depicting images from the Old Testament were painted by István Dorffmeister in 1769. In 1803, the Archduke Ferdinand Estei bought the castle, which was renovated by his successor. The Renaissance arcade along the eastern wing was walled up. On the wing’s upper level corridors were built, so that the castle could be walked around. The water was drained from the castle moat, and the present-day bridge was built. During the 19th and 20th centuries only minor alterations took place, so even today the castle presents an image of the fortified late Renaissance castles of the 16th-17th centuries.
