About us
Aquae Vivae, then and now
Today Krapinske Toplice is a quiet, well-kept town in Hrvatsko Zagorje. It was once a fashionable European spa resort – and warm water has been springing from the ground here for centuries.
History
Three and a half centuries of bathing
- 1658
The first “pool” in Krapinske Toplice: a hollow in the ground lined with oak logs. It was built by the nobleman Franjo Keglević, owner of the Krapina-Kostel estate.
- 1703
The first reliable records of public use of the warm springs: the Viennese physician Stockhammer sends the nobleman Bolta Patačić to Krapinske Toplice for treatment.
- 1709
The healing power of the baths is described in Johann Leopold Payer’s book “Od kreposti Toplic Varašdinskih i Krapinskih” (On the Virtues of the Varaždin and Krapina Spas).
- 1857
Jakob Badl, a wine and horse merchant from Rogaška Slatina, buys the “K janjetu” (At the Lamb) inn together with the Gentlemen’s and the Common Bath, and then all the other springs – for one hundred thousand florins.
- 1859–1866
Badl pulls down the old baths and, in just seven years and without government support, builds a fashionable European spa resort. In May 1862 Mary’s Bath, named after his wife, opens with great ceremony.
- 1868
Tourism begins: the first accommodation price lists and the first mention of Krapinske Toplice in a travel guide date from this year.
- 1876
Krapinske Toplice is put on the tourist map of Europe (Anton Rak, “Das Mineralbad Krapina-Töplitz in Croatien”, Vienna). Guests arrive from German-, Italian- and French-speaking countries.
- 1939
The first masonry outdoor pool is built, and intensive development of the town, the baths and the spa begins.
- 1958
The “Home of Croatian Miners and Metallurgists” is built; today the Toplice Hotel, extended in 1972, stands on its site. By 1970 there are two outdoor pools with thermal water, and by the mid-1980s four.
- 1997–2009
New development: the Magdalena Special Hospital (1997), the Vita haemodialysis clinic (2006), the Akromion Special Hospital (2008) and Hotel Villa Magdalena, the first four-star hotel in Hrvatsko Zagorje (2009).
- 21 March 2015
The Aquae Vivae water park opens, with five indoor pools and one outdoor pool, a wellness area with saunas, and a restaurant.
- 2017
At the Croatian Tourism Days, Aquae Vivae d.d. receives an award in the sustainable tourism category from the Croatian National Tourist Board and the Ministry of Tourism.
Mary’s Bath
The pool of Mary’s Bath was one metre deep, with nine metres from the surface of the water to the ceiling. The bath stands above the thermal spring, and its floor is made of spaced oak planks through which healing water more than 40,000 years old still rises today – crystal clear, without chlorine or similar additives.
“Word of the healing power of the Krapina baths spread to the most distant lands.”
Today
The water park in numbers
The water park nestles among the gentle hills of Zagorje. Only the finest materials were used to build and fit it out, and the combination of wood, stone, metal and glass leaves the leading role to the water.
- Total area
- 18,000 m²
- Pool capacity
- 1,200 people
- Water surface
- 1,500+ m²
- Water attractions
- 160+
- Sun loungers
- 600
- Restaurant seats
- 120
Welcome to Aquae Vivae
Experience the pools everyone admires – we are open every day from 9:00 to 21:00.