The spa resort established by A. Mateczny is generally a uniform system. Nevertheless, we can discern three periods in its short history.

History

In 1884, construction engineer Antoni Mateczny (1859-1934), of Czech origin, born in Styria, employed at the construction of fortifications in the Krzemionki District, settled in Podgórze. By the route to Vienna, he invested in the construction of a guest house, Modrzewówka In 1898, when searching for an independent water source, a hole was drilled (so-called) “Stary Mateczny”, with mineral water. To secure his rights, A. Mateczny applied for a permit to carry out mining prospecting works. In 1903, he bought the adjacent plot of land, owned by the Imperial-Royal Military Treasury. The army agreed for laying pipes to feed water to the planned bath facility under the public route. The medicinal water source was officially commissioned in 25.09.1905. In approx. 1936, Modrzewiówka was no longer necessary, and was demolished along with the accompanying structures. In their place, a roundabout was built, facilitating car transport towards Zakopane. During the occupation, Germans took over the medicinal water facility. Bath installations were dismantled, and the buildings transformed into a knitting plant. In the years 1945-1946, a battalion of the Red Army had its quarter in the buildings of the Facility. The equipment and park were devastated.In the years 1947-1951, the Sulphate and Saline Water Bath Facility is reclaimed for a short period by the family of A Mateczny. In 1952, the heirs were forced to abandon the estate which was taken over by the state treasury. In 1954, the buildings of the bathing facility are taken over by the Central Administration of Health Resorts and entrusted to the management of National Health Resorts in Swoszowice-Zdrój. The medicinal water facility was reopened in 1957, under the name of Municipal Natural Treatment Plant Swoszowice-Mateczny in Cracow. In 1970, a bottling plant built in 1969, called Krakowianka, was commissioned in the park.

Description

The bath facility was built in 1905 on a plot of land of 4.1 ha. It was made of brick and covered with beaver tail roof tiles. Spa customers had at their disposal, among other things, 20 bath rooms of the 1st and 2nd class, to which, inter alia, 8 English-style porcelain and 12 cast iron and enamelled bathtubs were brought. There was also a reading room and a pump room in the facility. For the needs of the spa customers, a two-storey house was also built which, after some time, was provided to the employees (at the first floor level, there were two one-room residential units, and two studios at the ground floor level). In the inter-war period the Facility was equipped with modest, but modern devices, central heating and electric lighting. At the first floor, there are rooms with furniture. Two other buildings were used by guests and personnel. On the south-western and south-eastern façade, there was an inscription “Zakład Kąpielowy Wody Siarczano-Solankowej” (Sulphate and Saline Water Bath Facility). Around it, a geometrically composed park was created, with long, straight rows of trees. Young trees were planted, among other things, and 50 low benches were placed on the gritted paths. The whole was circumscribed by a wooden fence. A pond with a romantic little bridge on it constituted a characteristic landscape feature. Initially, the pond was used only to retain part of mineral water whose excessive amounts were discharged into Wilga. There were gazebos in the park: a smaller one near the pond (so-called Biała), and a larger one, housing two light, wooden rooms. In the inter-war period, the old gazebos were replaced with larch ones. The gardener devoted much attention to the flower bed with a fountain located on the side of the plant building. In 2000, company Uzdrowisko Mateczny-Zdrój Spółka z o.o. was established. The Natural Treatment Plant in Mateczny (Mateczny Zdrój - Lesser Poland Rehabilitation Centre) is located at the intersection of busy transport routes. Despite such an unfavourable situation, the facility as a whole constitutes a separated enclave of greenery, and the medicinal water plant is surrounded by trees with lots of shrubs and flowers. The owner of the complex has ambitious plans to extend the bath facilities and broaden the scope of the offered services. In 2005, in the historical buildings founded by Antoni Mateczny, company Relax Care - Day SPA started to operate, offering wellness services and balneotherapy.

The park is open until dusk, water treatment facilities are available for the guests and customers of the spa.

compiled by Roman Marcinek, Regional Branch of the National Heritage Board of Poland in Krakow, 20-03-2015.

Bibliography

• Adamczewski J, Kraków od A do Z, Kraków 1992;
• Brzoza C., Kraków między wojnami. Kalendarium 28 X 1918 - 6 IX 1939, Kraków 1998;
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• Marcinek R., Uzdrowisko Mateczny. Studium historyczne, Kraków 2008
• Rożek M.,, Przewodnik po zabytkach i kulturze Krakowa, Warszawa-Kraków 2000, s. 534-538;
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• Torosiewicz T., O wodach mineralnych w Podgórzu i Swoszowicach. „Gazeta Lwowska”, 1841, nr 41.