Lake Hévíz

Count György I. Festetics, the landowner, had the first, then rectangular, two-building baths built in 1795 over the lake. In 1801, news of the beneficial effects of the medicinal water reached Vienna, and a report from 1818 mentioned the presence of white water lilies in the lake. Other Indian species were planted in 1898. In 1858, the forestation around the lake, the modernisation of the baths buildings and the construction of the lakeside guesthouses began. The men's and women's baths (baths enclosed by cabins) were located in the centre of the lake, but many people used the then much wider Hévíz stream for bathing.