History

1925. On October 25, 1925, a miracle took place in the small town of Hajdúszoboszló. While searching for hydrocarbons, workers unexpectedly found 73°C thermal water springing up together with natural gas from a depth of 1091 meters. The healing power of the water was proved shortly afterwards. It is Ferenc Pávai Vajna, a distinguished geologist, the ‘father’ of our thermal water, who is to be thanked for finding this wonder of nature that has been serving mankind for more than seventy years now. This brownish, velvet-like, hot treasure of the deep of the earth had flooded nearby surface dents and ditches, and local people soon began to bathe and wash their clothes in it. They soon realized that the water was capable of performing miracles since after spending some time in the water, wounds healed faster and rheumatic symptoms began to ease.

This sensational news has attracted the attention of experts.They have studied and analysed the composition of liquid hot gold.

Based on scientific analysis, the town decided to build a spa. One and a half years later on 26 July, 1927, the so-called “mud bath” opened to the public.

In the more than 90 years since then, tourism in Hajdúszoboszló has become increasingly lively, and the spa had to be expanded and modernised several times to meet the demands of the times, until the largest spa complex in Europe was established. The stages of development, by year, are as follows:

1927 the so-called “mud bath” opened

1928 building of a 50 x 51,5 meter pool from reinforced concrete, a 15 x 32 meter medical pool, 100 booths, and two buildings with 300 changing booths each.

1931 Large 50 x 25 metre pool

1934 the facility recieved a temporary title of Medical Spa from the Interior Ministry

1935-36 two medical clinics, inhalatory

1936building of two 7 x 14 meter, covered thermal pools, a cooling tower, and a drinking hall

1938 50 x 25 m wave pool, I. and II. the water from the well is classified as medicinal and mineral water

1939 Recreation hall, boating lake, thermal water bottling plant

1940 children’s pool

1941 bath tub, playground, new inhalatorium

1942 Jacuzzi

1946 The Minister of Public Welfare authorises the use of the name “Spa”.

1949 The spa is nationalised: Hajdúszoboszló Spa National Company

1954 The wooden roof of the indoor thermal pools is rebuilt

1956 Dressing room with hanger for 600 people

1958 Authorisation of the name of the spa, weight bath

1959 Installation of a backbone for the hot and cold showers

1962 the wave pool was rebuilt

1963 Renovation of cooling tower, south cabin

1964 new thermal water intake pipeline

1965 new boathouse, renovated spa entrance

1966 Rebuilding of bath tub, mud bath, weight bath, women’s changing room with hanger, introduction of massage

1967 new pump house, workshop, boiler house

1968 physiotherapy room, physiotherapy room

1969 new beach entrance, round pavilion

1970 Drinking hall built, construction of the new spa begins

1971 50 x 20 metre swimming pool built

1972 Opening of the new indoor spa building

1974 the area is increased by 14 hectares

1976-77 Expansion of the boating lake

1977 promenade around the boating lake

1978 Paddling pool, teaching pool built

1980 will complete the Omega pool, two tennis courts

1981 Water rotation and filtration equipment

1982 bathing cinema

1983 Start of construction of indoor swimming pool

1987 two screw conveyors built

1991 The spa became a limited company, majority owned by the municipality

1992 Opening of the Árpád Indoor Swimming Pool

1994 Mineral water bottling plant

1994 Thermal Tourist Travel Agency opens

1995 Opening of Thermal Camping,

1996-98 Purchase of thermal wells, reconstruction of aquifer

1996 Construction of a day-care sanatorium

1999 Reconstruction of the spa, new therapies: the Délibáb-, Silver therapy

2000 Construction of an aquapark

2002 Spa complex renewed under the Széchenyi Plan

2004 New mineral water bottling plant

2005 Opening of Hungarospa Thermal Hotel***

2009 Gas engine power plant construction

2010 Aqua-Palace Indoor Adventure Spa

2014 Attractions development (spa, beach, Aquapark extreme zone)

2019 2 new children’s pools

2021 Premium Zone

The year 1996 marks the beginning of the greatest, originally 8-year-long, development project of the Hajdúszoboszló Spa Complex started by the management of the company and the proprietor, the Municipality of Hajdúszoboszló. In 1996, our medical sanatorium – the Hotel Thermal Therapy – opened its gates shortly after receiving a separate spa building. New therapies were introduced in the Délibáb and Silver Hotels, which meant that it was possible to improve the therapies even more. During the Christmas holidays in 1998, the modern Medical Spa building was finished.

In 2000, with the help of Phare, Hungary’s first waterpark, the Aquapark was established.

These developments were followed by a 2.5 billion HUF investment offered by the Széchenyi Plan between 2000 and 2001. This investment helped to develop the Open-air Spa, to enlarge the Aquapark, building new therapy rooms on the second floor of the hot tub building, which increased the medical capacity. As part of this investment new training and medical pools and a sauna were built, and at the end of 2002, the building of the Medical Spa was renovated.
The most significant developments were made in the Open-air Spa, where beyond upgrading the infrastructure, new pools in line with European standards were built, including the giant pool, decorated with elements resembling a Mediterranean beach, making it unique in all of Europe.
In 2003, a more than one billion HUF investment was made to develop the surroundings of the Hotel Thermal Therapy facility, in József Attila utca.

In 2004, a more than one thousand m2 bottling plant was built, equipped with the latest bottling technology. The value of the investment was 150 million HUF.

2008. In the year 2008, the construction of the Aqua-Palace indoor waterpark started, which was the largest investment in tourism in the history of the town of Hajdúszoboszló.

The investment was worth 4.8 billion HUF from which 2.25 billion was funded by the European Union. The aim of the new facility is to broaden the services available in the spa, while also lengthening the summer season. The Aqua-Palace has an area of 15.000 m2, with a water surface of 1600 m2. The facility has a maximum capacity of 1000 people, where every generation can find some way to relax and wind down, or take part in some sport activities. The Aqua-Palace Waterpark was inaugurated in March 2010.

2014 was the year of investments in the history of Hungarospa. The thermal pool-section of the Medical Spa was renovated and expanded. The Aquapark was also expanded with a new area called the Extreme Zone, including 6 new slides and a climbing wall. At the Open-air Spa section of the complex the Omega and training pools were rebuilt, and expanded with a stage for children’s shows and a foam-show area.

From the beginning of the high season in 2018, families with little children can enjoy the summer heat in two brand new kid’s pools.

In the summer of 2021 a new open-air wellness zone, the Premium Zone, satisfying high-quality needs, was opened to the public.