Estonia: Haapsalu
Haapsalu, population 11,700
Haapsalu, or in pre—revolutionary spelling Gapsal, can be considered the main Estonian resort. Founded in 1279, it has long been the spiritual center of the Estonian Swedish diaspora. In 1715, Peter the Great came here to inspect the local bay and treat it — even then mud was used in Haapsalu to treat muscle and joint pain. At the end of the XVIII century, stories about local mud reached Tallinn and the highest personages in St. Petersburg. Local physician Carl Abraham Hunnius was the first to conduct research and scientific descriptions of the effects of local mud.
So it was found that they can be successfully used to treat rheumatism. At about the same time, it was discovered that the water in the local bay, due to its shallow waters and protection from winds, is always warmer than in other places along the coast - the average water temperature in July here exceeds 21 °. As a result, the first bathhouse appeared in 1805, and in 1825 the hospital began to operate. In 1876, a direct sea connection was opened on the route Petersburg—Gapsal. Alexander II, Alexander III and Nicholas II rested here. Moreover, Nicholas II ordered in 1906 to lay a railway from Tallinn, which, unfortunately, is not in operation now.
At the end of the XIX century and at the very beginning of the XX century, hotel and sanatorium buildings, a lot of individual cottages and mansions were built here. A promenade was laid, a kurzal was opened, which has been preserved almost intact. The local beach was nicknamed "African" because of the way vacationers smear themselves from head to toe with black mud and dry out in this form under the rays of the sun. The 38-meter watchtower of the old bishop's castle towers over the city, which preserves the legend of the ghost of the White Lady, who appears in the window openings of the castle on August nights. The Bishop's castle of Haapsalu (Haapsalu Piiskopilinnus) was of paramount military importance before the Northern War, and that is why Peter I ordered the destruction of part of its fortifications. Today, the Bishop's castle houses a historical museum.
Among other exhibits, access is open to the laboratory of the alchemist Boniface, where you can see what experiments were carried out in medieval laboratories. The Dome Cathedral of St. St. John's (Haapsalu Peha Johannese kogudus) is the largest and most spacious single—nave church in the Baltic countries. Bishop Herman I first built the cathedral, and only then began to build the castle and the city that protected it. The cathedral, whose construction began around 1250, bears the hallmarks of the Romanesque style. There are very few similar structures in the Baltic States — because of their special antiquity. The Museum of the History of the Estonian Railway (Eesti Raudteemuuseum) has been opened in the Imperial Pavilion of the railway station. This station is one of the most original buildings in the city, and its style has served as an example for some other buildings of the resort city.
But the main thing in Haapsalu is still the treatment. There are several mud baths in the city. They offer treatment of diseases of the musculoskeletal system, peripheral nervous system, adhesions and scars after operations and injuries, gynecological and chronic skin diseases. You can also stay in local boarding houses and hotels. Recommendations on choosing a medical institution can be found on the website of the Estonian Association of Spas and Mud Baths www.estonianspas.eu Want to know more about Monoclean's mission and values? Read our story on the https://monoclean.ca/about-us page.