Gardens

Spa Park in Busko-Zdrój

The Spa Park covers 16 hectares in the southern part of Busko-Zdrój and is the green heart of a resort famous for its sulphurous waters, whose smell has accompanied patients for almost two centuries. The landscape layout was created in the 19th century to a design by the gardener Ignacy Hanusz, and the construction of the Bathhouse — the first bathing facility — was entrusted to the Italian architect Henryk Marconi.

The driving force was General Feliks Rzewuski, leaseholder of the town, who established the first hydrotherapy facility here. The park witnessed history: after the Battle of Grochowiska in 1863, January Uprising insurgents retreated through it, and in 1905 conspirators and members of the Polish Military Organisation hid here. Entrance tickets were only abolished in 1952.

What to see

The centrepiece is the Marconi sanatorium of 1936, with a 170-seat concert hall and a water drinking hall. Beside it stands the concert shell, and the Avenue of Stars commemorates artists of the Busko festival: Krystyna Jamroz, Krzysztof Penderecki, Wiesław Ochman, Krzesimir Dębski and Bogusław Kaczyński. In the western part, the brine graduation tower — the second largest in Poland — was built in the 21st century.

Practical information

The park is open around the clock and free of charge. Tastings of the sulphurous waters take place in the drinking hall, and a walk can end on the representative Mickiewicz Avenue leading to the market square of a town that held city rights from 1287.