The Spa Park

The Zdrojowy Park (The Spa Park) was formerly known as the Main Park. It was built between 1872 and 1875 and was designed by Hipolit Cybulski under the direction of Warsaw botanist Professor Jerzy Aleksandrowicz and further perfected by Franciszek Szanior. Its area is approximately 19 ha. Its oldest section on the side of Kościuszki street serves a representative role, adorned by two ponds with illuminated waterworks and connected by a small bridge nicknamed the "swan bridge" bejewelled with padlocks left by couples as a sign of love. The circular flowerbed, planted with multicoloured flowers and decorated with exotic palm trees or agaves, used to be surrounded by stands selling mineral water, sweets, gingerbread cake, and milk drinks. Nowadays this area allows the strollers to relax on benches in the shade of numerous, often exotic trees, such as the ginkgo biloba, American tulip tree, American coffee berry, Amur cork tree, or Caucasian wingnut, and to take souvenir summer photos against the backdrop of decorative plants blooming on peacock-, swan- and squirrel-shaped structures. You can also watch exotic peacocks and pheasants in the aviary, and ducks, white and black swans in the ponds. Near the ponds there is the Oak of Liberty, planted in 2014 to celebrate 25 years of independence, and trees planted to mark the anniversaries of various institutions and associations. A mature chestnut tree and a cigar tree accompany the former steam engine building. In total, more than a hundred plant species can be found in the park.

Walking through the park, gems of wooden architecture can be found sprinkled between the trees. One of them is the kurhaus – an old Swiss-style walking gallery built in 1880-1881, extensively decorated with carved details, topped with a clock tower designed by Edward Cichocki. It is a wooden building of a post and beam structure and timbered walls. It now houses the E. Wedel Chocolate Cafe and a small pump room for mineral waters. Next to it is the "Żabka" (“Frog”) fountain. More party-oriented guests drop in for some dance floor action at the Bristol Café, popularly known as the "Barn", while the gourmets visit “Metreveli”, the Georgian restaurant located in a historic structure built in 1908, a former café designed by Apoloniusz Nieniewski.

The central part of the main avenue lined with Caucasian Linden trees on both sides is crowned by a fountain with a sculpture of “Jaś i Małgosia” ("Hansel and Gretel"), and further on there is a sundial around which reliefs of the zodiac signs are accordingly positioned. In the summer, the Kazimierz Kowalski Concert Shell constructed in the Zakopane style as designed by Waldemar Fedders hosts numerous concerts and festivals for which Ciechocinek is famous: the Kujawy Folklore Festival, the Festival of Tenors, the Opera and Operetta Festival, as well as the Happy Jazz or the International "Blues without Barriers" Festivals. Tennis courts are located next to an antique bowling alley. Next to it, there is an old English oak named "Konstanty", towering at over 22 metres high and 547 cm in trunk circumference – the only natural monument registered in Ciechocinek, named after Konstanty Leon Wolicki, the initiator of the construction of the salt works.

Further down, the park is designed in the English garden style, bearing some resemblance to a more natural landscape, with various festivals, sports, and entertainment events making use of the spacious meadow surrounded by trees. The Saline Route runs through the park, leading to the historic salt works. After the revitalisation, the park was surrounded by a fence, and new wooden gazebos were built to offer a place to rest. Nightingales sing here on May nights. The Spa Park is a real gem of Ciechocinek.