History

The first recorded mention of the springs is in the parish chronicle in Medzibrod and dates back to 1818. Until 1834, when construction of the first spa building started (it was finished in 1837) there is no documentation regarding the utilization of the springs for the purposes of spa treatment. Most likely the lumberjacks, minors and coalmen used the springs long before 1834, because they daily passed by them in the Brusnianka valley on their way to work. The first spa season started in 1838 and continued until the spa building burned down in 1859. It was restored in 1861, with the ground plan in the shape of the letter U – the present Vepor pavilion. The period of the first Czechoslovak Republic was a blooming period for the Brusno Medical Spa. At that time there were 3 two-floor buildings (Ďumbier, Vepor and Paula) with 150 rooms. The hotels had electricity and water pipeline.

After the Second World War the spa was in a bad technical condition, which was worsened by the fire in 1947. The Podbrezová ironworks (in those times it used to be called Central Slovakia Ironworks) took part in the renewal and became the new spa owner in 1947. The communist coup in 1948 started the process of nationalization and the Brusno spa fell into the state’s hands. The greatest architectural change happened after 1974 when the Poľana pavilion was built, which was opened after 1985. Today the Brusno Medical Spa is a joint-stock company.

Location

Brusno Medical Spa is situated in the heart of Slovakia, in the valley of the Slovak Ore Mountains (Slovenské Rudohorie), at the south-western foot of the mountain Vepor and the Hell valley (Peklo). The spa is surrounded by conifer forests with their typical velvet aroma.

Its unique location, only a few kilometres north-east of Banská Bystrica, in the Upper Hron valley full of forests, offers undisturbed quietness, fresh air and breath-taking natural environment. The medical spa has favourable, warm and damp sub-montane climate. Brusno is a small village situated between two mountain ranges: the Low Tatras and the Slovak Ore Mountains (Slovenské Rudohorie), in the western part of the Banská Bystrica district and to the north-east of its largest city Banská Bystrica. It spreads over both banks of the river Hron. Brusno lies close to the geometrical centre of Slovakia, which is at the south-western foot of the Vepor mountain (1339 m). The southern foothills of the Low Tatras and its massif Prašivá line the right side of the river Hron. The relief is very rugged and undulating and each ridge is more than 1500 m above sea level (Veľká Chochuľa, at 1754 metres above sea level is the highest peak of Prašivá, followed by Veľké Košarisko 1682 m, Lučatínska Hoľa 1588m and Kabanec 1535 m). The ridges have a typical mountain meadow character. The slopes are not rocky but smooth, they are green in summer and dazzlingly white in winter. Except for a lower area in the Hron valley, the surroundings of the village are mountainous, there are mostly forests and meadows there.

Mineral water

The river Hron flows through the village for about 2 km, met by two tributaries: Sopotnica flowing from the right side and Brusnianka from the left side. Sopotnica, a 12.6-km-long right-sided mountain stream tributary of the Hron, rises in the Low Tatras under Veľká Chochuľa at an altitude of 1402 m. Brusnianka, the left-sided Hron tributary is 8.8 km long. It rises in the western part of the Slovak Ore Mountains under the mountain Kolba at an altitude of around 955 m. For medical treatment we use natural healing water from local mineral springs. Our healing water can be characterised as „natural, slightly acidulous, highly mineralised, hydrogene-carbonate-sulphate-calcerous-magnesium mineral water“ with increased amounts of hydrogene-carbonates sulphates, calcium, magnesium and fluorid ion. Our natural healing water is originally cold. Four mineral springs are used – Ondrej, Ludvik, Paula and Dumbier. All springs have practically identical chemical composition, they are all used for drinking cure. The Ondrej spring is also used for mineral carbonate baths.

The natural healing spring Ondrej is bottled by Brusno Kúpele company and mineral water bottled in various sizes is dispatched in retail network under the commercial name "Brusnianka". Natural healing waters are used mainly for drinking cures and are Suitable for treating diseases of digestive organs. Mineral baths are beneficial mainly for diseases of cardio-vascular system, locomotive organs and skin.