Bārbele sulphur spring

Bārbele Sulphur spring is known as one of the first resort places in Latvia. Already around 1650, during the reign of Duke Jakob, a bath house was built near the sulphur spring, called as “the small water sanatorium”, which was later visited by all the Courland and Semigallia dukes. In 1739, a doctor from Riga, named Benjamin Teofil Groff, sent 10 wounded and seriously ill soldiers, who were suffering from various ailments, to the Bārbele Sulphur spring - after bathing in the sludge of the spring and drinking its water, the soldiers recovered.
The water of the spring has been used by farmers and noblemen from near and far surroundings. Patients bathed in the spring, smeared with the sludge, warm baths were also prepared from it, and the water was also used in drinking. Bārbele Sulphur spring has cured not only scurvy, joint and back pain, arthritis, swelling, but also venereal diseases, nervous disorders and other diseases. In the 19th century, the concentration of hydrogen sulfide in the spring water decreased. Despite that, in the 20s of the 20th century, a bath house was still operating here, a small area of summer houses was also built, a dance floor and a park were built, the resort was widely visited at that time. Unfortunately, the decline of the resort followed after the World War II, when it was destroyed and no longer restored.
Today, the evidence of the once so visited and important resort place is visible in the ruins of the last building of the bath house, and the trees are also witnesses, keeping within themselves what they once experienced.
Visitors are welcome to explore this unique area - here is a rest area, an information stand, where everyone can view older photos and get to know the history of the resort in more detail. There is also a wooden platform from which everyone can taste the spring water.