Spa & Wellness
Curative spas are one of the biggest assets of Bulgaria. There are over 600 natural spas and over 370 drilling ones, some of them are equivalent in composition to the waters of the most famous world balneotherapy, such as Baden-Baden, and mud-curing health resorts.Bulgaria is famous around the world for the uniqueness, variety and abundance of its hydrothermal, bioclimatic, mud treatment, sea cure, and other health resources.
Bulgarian mineral waters are known for their greatly varied chemical composition and, respectively, their mineralisation and type of dissolved mineral salts, curative gases and biologically active micro-components.
Spa traditions in Bulgaria date back to ancient times. In Thracian times, flourishing settlements sprang up around the hot mineral springs. In Roman times, spa centres were established, such as Augusta (present-day Hissarya), Dezudava (Sandanski), Pautalia (Kyustendil) and Serdika (Sofia), where even the Roman emperors Ulpius Trajanus, Septemius Severus, Maximilianus and Justinianus sought treatment for their ailments.
Today, many of the popular spa resorts are situated in the Black Sea region. The sea climate, combined with the curative mineral springs and curative mud offer excellent conditions for treatment, recuperation and holidays in the summer. The best known Black Sea spa centres are Dobrudja Hotel at Albena resort, Ambassador Hotel at Golden Sands resort, Riviera Holiday Club, Sunny Day and Grand Hotel Varna at St. Constantine resort, Pomorie Hotel in the coastal town of Pomorie.
Bulgarian mountain resorts also offer varied prophylactic and therapeutic possibilities. Lovely scenery, clean air, short-wave ultraviolet radiation, negative air ionisation, particularly close to mountain waterfalls, as well as the many mineral springs, different in temperature and composition, are their major assets.
Best-known inland spa resorts are Sandanski,Velingrad, Hissarya, Bankya, Kyustendil.
Sandanski
Sandanski, an internationally known climate therapy and health resort, is in the valley of the Sandanska Bistritsa river, at the foot of the south-western slopes of Pirin mountain.It has a unique climate with air temperatures throughout the year higher than anywhere else in the country. Sandanski has the lowest annual rainfall in Bulgaria and its air is remarkably clean and pollution-free.
The main feature of the resort, however, is the multitude of mineral springs. The wells and natural springs situated in two thermal zones have a total flow of 1,500 l/min. The waters are clear, colourless, odourless with a pleasant taste.
This remarkable combination of balmy, health-giving weather and curative mineral waters makes Sandanski the perfect place for modern science-based spa treatment, rehabilitation, primary and secondary prophylactics and recreation. It is specialised in the treathment of upper respiratory tract and lung diseases of non-tuberculosis type and of inflammation degenerative diseases of the joints.
Pavel Banya
The resort is situated near the geographic center of Bulgaria in the famous Rose Valley, between the Balkan Range and Sredna Gora mountains. it is easily accessible by car, train or bus. Archaeologists found many artifacts and proved this village was a spa resort since the Antiquity.The hydrothermal sources are 9. Seven of them are hypothermal, with similar characteristics – temperature between 50O – 600 C, with low mineralization. Waters characteristics: hydro-carbonate-sodium waters, slightly alkaline, mildly to highly fluorine. There are 2 sources with non-radon waters. The climate of Pavel Banya is transitional-continental with a moderate warm summer and a mild winter without snow, turning the resort into an all-year round spa.
Velingrad
Velingrad lies at the western end of Chepino Valley, one of the most attractive parts of the Rhodope mountains in Southern Bulgaria. There are 70 sources of mineral water with curative and preventive properties.
The mineral waters vary considerably in temperature, mineralisation, radon, silicic acid and fluorine content, and are suitable for treatment of a wide range of diseases.
The summer is warm with an average July temperature of 19°C.
In addition to he numerous mineral waters Velingrad takes pride in another natural phenomenon – the Kleptuza. This is the biggest karst spring in Bulgaria with a flow of 1200 litres of ice-cold water a second.
Bankya
Only 17km away from Sofia, Bankya is one of the country’s best-known and most frequented spa resorts. Situated in the green foothills of the Lyulin Mountain, the resort offers a temperate continental climate with a fresh summer and average temperature in July 19.6°C.
Bankya has developed as resort for rehabilitation of cardio-vascular conditions with highly specialised functional diagnostics. It is suitable for treatment of cardio-vascular diseases, nervous system disturbances and metabolic disturbances.
The complex also has an operating complex for recuperation, prophylactics and fitness of rheumatism of children.
Hissarya
Annually, more than 140,000 Bulgarians and foreigners visit Bankya.
The health resort of Hissarya is situated in central Bulgaria, in the southern folds of Sredna Gora, 42km north of Plovdiv and 160km east of Sofia. There are 22 curative mineral springs in the resort. The mineral water is light, clear and slightly mineralised with a temperature of 37 to 52°C.
The Augusta hotel in the small town offers a full medical support programme.
The town itself is ecologically clean. There are no industrial plants or factories in the region, and it is rich in parks and green areas.
Kyustendil
Some 88 km south-west of Sofia, Kyustendil lies at the foot of Osogovo Mountain at an altitude of 530m. Thanks to the lush vegetation of the surrounding landscape and the beautiful gardens of its neat lovely houses, the town is refreshingly green and inviting.
The average July temperature is 21.6°C. The mineral water of the numerous fountains, natural springs and wells, have an almost uniform chemical composition, temperature and sulphide content. The water is clear , colourless, with a pleasant taste and a slight smell of hydrogen sulphide. Its curative and preventive properties are mainly due to the sulphide, high temperature, mild mineralisation and relatively high fluorine content.
