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Spa Square and walking pier - Zabytek.pl

Spa Square and walking pier


public building Sopot

Address
Sopot, Powstańców Warszawy 6

Location
woj. pomorskie, pow. Sopot, gm. Sopot

The Spa Square, walking pier and the remains of the Spa House are an example of a fine spatial and architectural complex that used to be the spatial and functional centre of the resort town.

The complex, integrated with the sea through the walking pier, has an exceptionally high landscape value and is perfectly highlighted from the side of the sea. The walking pier is one of the longest piers in Europe, as well as one of the most characteristic structures in Sopot. It is a symbol of the leisure character of the city, and expresses both its former glory as well as the current aspirations of the city to be a successfully prospering resort.

History

The first bathing facility in the then village of Sopoty was developed by Karol Krzysztof Wegner in 1819. In 1823, Jerzy Haffner, a former major and surgeon in the Napoleonic Army from Alsace, erected the first Bath House used to take baths and perform therapeutic treatment. A year later, he founded the Spa House containing a hotel and a restaurant. At the same time, a park was developed. The walking pier and a theatre were built in the 1830s and in 1843, respectively. In 1877, the bathing facility was bought from private hands by the commune authorities who erected a new Spa House (so-called 2nd Spa House) in 1880. In the late 19th century, Sopot became a popular and dynamically developing resort. In 1901, it was granted municipal rights. In 1910, the town authorities built a new Spa House (so-called 3rd Spa House) on the basis of the design by Carl Weber in cooperation with Paul Puchmueller and Adolf Bielefeldt. The new building impressed with its grand scale, lavish architecture and elaborate functional programme. It was a complex of four buildings that surrounded the Spa Square from all sides. In the middle of the Square, there was an impressive fountain. From the east, the Square was screened by verandas, which were replaced with semi-circular walking galleries in 1928. A concert shell was built in 1930. The pier was extended in 1904, 1927, and 1939. Until World War II, the Spa House, the Spa Square, and the pier were the centre of the social life of Sopot. Apart from a casino, the complex housed also the most popular restaurants and cafés in Sopot. It was the place where concerts, fashion shows, and sports events were held. In 1945, the Spa House was burned down. Part of the rooms on the ground floor, terraces, and a wine bar, now called the Rotunda, were all that remained from the building. The Spa Square complex and the fountain, walking galleries, and concert shell survived as well. In 1947, pavilions for the Gdańsk Internatinal Fair were built on the remains of the Spa House. Later, the pavilions were taken over by the Artistic Exhibitions Office and the National Art Gallery. In the early 21st century, the pavilions were demolished and in 2006-2009, a new Spa House (so-called 4th Spa House) was erected, with its architectural form reminiscent of the building from 1910. In 2011, a marina was built by the pier.

Descritpion

The Spa Square with the relics of the so-called 3rd Spa House and the pier are located on the seashore, at the end of the main communication axis of the city - Bohaterów Monte Cassino street. The Square is symmetrical, with the axis of symmetry running on the line connecting the Spa House Rotunda, the fountain, and the pier. The western part of the Square is rectangular, located between buildings. From the south, the Square adjoins the Balneological Facility, from the north the Sheraton Hotel, from the west the modern Spa House and terraces running along the whole west side of the Square. In the north-west corner of the Square, there is a concert shell. The eastern part of the Square is semi-circular, from the side of the sea framed with two quarter-circular galleries that reach the base of the pier. A fountain is situated in the middle of the Square. The geometry of the Square is repeated by the layout of the paths and clusters of cut limes; they are rectangular in the western part and quarter-circular in the eastern part.

The pier, repeatedly extended and definitely developed in 1939, is 512 meters long. It is wooden and has four parts: 1) a rectangular sunbathing area located at the base of the pier, 2) a trunk involving the main bridge and the side bridge located on the southern side of the pier, low above the water, 3) a head in a shape similar to a triangle and located at the end of the pier, 4) a side arm - a groyne, located on the base of the head, perpendicularly to the axis of the pier. The side bridge and the groyne were used to moor boats. Between the head and the groyne there is a modern marina.

The Rotunda, terraces, and fountain come from 1910 and are all that remained of the so-called 3rd Spa House. The Rotunda and terraces are currently integrated into the body of the 4th Spa House. The Rotunda is octagonally closed towards the east. It has a two-storey structure, topped with a terrace and an oval cupola with a lantern (reconstructed in 1989). It has large valley-arch windows and lavish eclectic architectural and paining gilded decorations. The terraces have two levels and brick balustrades. The fountain was built on an oval plan with a rectangular pool with chamfered corners, where there are figures of cupids placed on plinths. The architectural decoration of the terraces and the fountain is reminiscent of the Rotunda. The galleries, built in 1928, constitute covered passages supported by pillars, glazed from the side of the sea and open from the side of the Square.

The site is open to visitors.

compiled by Beata Dygulska, Regional Branch of the National Heritage Board of Poland in Gdańsk, 30-10-2014.

Bibliography

  • Dargacz J., Historia sopockich domów kuracyjnych 1824-2006, Sopot 2006;
  • Dzieje Sopotu do roku 1945, pod red. B. Śliwińskiego, Gdańsk 1998, str.113-115;
  • Paul Puchmueller, architekt, który przemienił Sopot w miasto (1875-1942), katalog wystawy, praca zbiorowa pod red. M. Buchholz-Todoroskiej, Sopot 2008, s. 78-79;
  • Karty ewidencyjne zabytku architektury: Dom Zdrojowy, obecnie Biuro Wystaw Artystycznych, opr. J., P. Czyszek,1989, Archiwum NID; Molo, opr. K. Żuławska-Kantorowska,1996, Archiwum NID

Category: public building

Protection: Register of monuments

Inspire id: PL.1.9.ZIPOZ.NID_N_22_ZE.15980