Sanatorium v Lázeňském parku v Darkově Sanitarium

The sanatorium in the Darkov spa park is a spa building standing in the southern part of the park. It is not listed separately in the Central List of Cultural Monuments, but as part of the spa park monument site under number 1000122138_0002. The site has been protected since 25 March 1992 and, besides the sanatorium, also includes the Social House from 1900–1901 and the Chapel of Saint Anne.

The building’s address is Lázeňská 48/41 in the Darkov cadastral area. At the same address, Lázně Darkov, a. s., today runs its Historic Spa — the original spa grounds, which the company distinguishes from the more modern Rehabilitation Sanatorium at the other end of Karviná.

The history of spa treatment in Darkov, to which the building belongs, began in 1862, when Baron Jiří IV Bees of Chrostina, while searching for coal, struck a spring of highly mineralised iodine-bromine brine. In 1865 Dr Anton Fiedler, a physician from Fryštát, first used it for treatment, and in the same year the first spa building, known as the Glasshouse, was built here. The spa was officially founded in 1867, after an analysis by the Viennese professor Redtenbacher had shown that the local brine contained twice as much iodine as the springs in Hall in Upper Austria, until then the most effective. At the beginning of the 20th century a modern spa was then built in Darkov; the spa park had already been founded in 1895.

Treatments here cover musculoskeletal disorders, neurological conditions and post-injury and post-operative conditions. The basis remains the iodine-bromine brine from the Darkov springs, used for baths.

On 11 August 2025, after renovation, the Staré lázně (Old Spa) building in the Historic Spa grounds opened with a new balneotherapy facility. Besides iodine-bromine baths with a wrap, it offers massages, wraps, body rituals and lymphatic drainage, oxygen therapy, hydrotherapy, electrotherapy and thermotherapy, as well as a fitness centre with a gym. The equipment includes Icoone devices for lymphatic and aesthetic care and Imoove for functional training. Treatments are not reserved for resident guests — the public can book them too.

The building’s surroundings were also renewed in 2025. Lázně Darkov had the park revitalised and a new spa colonnade built with water features, flower beds and benches; in June of the same year the government established by decree the spa town of Karviná, which also includes Darkov.