Sovata - Bear lake:
It is the Sekler Salt land most famous thermal spa. The place was founded by families who were guarding the salt mountain at the end of the 1500's.
Sovata lies in a basin surrounded by spectacular places. The mountains are covered by unspoiled wild forests. The place has a special microclimate, cool summers and mild winters and the fresh air mixed with resin has a healing effect.
The resort is famous for the lakes Ursu (Bear) (46,000 sq.m.), Alunis (Peanut) (9,000 sq.m.), Verde (Green) (5,000 sq.m.), Negru (Black), Rosu (Red), Mierlei (Blackbird) and Serpilor (Snakes), with chloride (high concentration - 40 to 250 g/liter), sodas waters evincing some heliothermal phenomena.
The Bear lake is unique in Europe. The name comes from the shape of the lake as it looks like a bearskin. Its length is 306 m and the perimeter is 910 m, deepest point 18,1 m. Therefore in summer, the temperature of Lake Ursu (18.1 m deep), which is the biggest heliothermal lake. The temperature of the water in summertime varies as solar heat is accumulated in the salt water, the warm water being protected by the layer of fresh water from the rivulets, which does not mix with the salt water but remains on the surface, serving as a thermal insulator. There is an unforgettable feeling: swing within the heart of woods, at 502 meters above sea level in the healing salty water. On the bank of the lake there is a spa with different treatments, such as pelotherapy, weight bath, massage.
Nearby the Bear lake there are two smaller lakes Red and Green lakes. There are also bathing possibilities, but there nothing was build up. The water is more concentrated in salt and minerals. Also we can found there an interesting salt mountain. Not far from Bear lake is the Mogyorosi lake which is not a heliothermal lake.
The resort offers treatment mainly for gynecological diseases (ovarian insufficiency, chronic cervicitis, chronic metrosalpingitis, secondary sterility) but then also for generative, inflammatory and abarticular rheumatic diseases (cervical, dorsal and lumbar spondylosis, arthrosis, polyarthrosis; articular painful conditions; tendonitis, tendomyositis, scapulohumeral per arthritis), posttraumatic conditions (after healed operations on joints, muscles or bones, after luxations and twists), peripheral neurological disorders (light paresis, sequelae after poliomyelitis and after polyneuropathies), endocrine diseases (hypothyroidism, after endocrinological treatment), cardiovascular diseases (varicose ulcer, acrocyanosis).
The resort benefits by many treatment facilities (for warm baths of salt mineral water taken from the lakes, in tub sand pools; for gynecological treatments and applications of warm mud; pools for kinetotherapy; installations for electrotherapy and hydrotherapy; saunas; medical gyms; beaches on the shores of Lake Ursu and Lake Alunis, etc.); the accommodation conditions are fine (many hotels - some of them having their own treatment base: Sovata, Bradet, Alunis, Faget, Caprioara -, villas, inns, motels and cabins). Many opportunities for recreation, amusement and sports (club with mechanical games par lour, reading room, cinema, indoor pools, discotheques, bowling alleys, and trips to the Saca Hill, the Cireselu Peak etc.).
The legend of the Bear Lake (Fary's tears)
Once up in the woods above Sovata lived a fairy in a beautiful castle. She saw a shepherd lad and she fell in love with him. But according to the fairy laws they couldn't met so she listened his flute play every night. After a while she decided to break the law and meet the lad. She went down to the valley and saw the boy kissing a girl. She went crazy and turned them and the sheep into stones. She also paid for her villain deed. After this she wondered in the woods and from her veil flowers grew everywhere. And the beautiful palace disappeared. She started crying and her tears grew into a stream then a lake. The fireplace of the fairy is heating it from below.
Itinerary:
Odorheiu Secuiesc - Lupeni - Corund - Praid - Sovata (about 55 km)
Have a nice trip!
Yours sincerely,
Arpad Nagy
