Starý Smokovec

The oldest tourist - recreational area in the High Tatras. It is situated in the southern slope of the Slavkovský Peak. It is an important starting point for hikes to the central part of the High Tatras. The local demand for the Smokovec mineral water has its roots decades ago. It is not excluded that it was connected with belief in old-Slavic Gods of natural resources. A small hunter-cottage of Štefan Csáky (the owner of local forests) and a small hut grew up close to the mineral water springs in 1793. Those were the first settlements of this kind in the High Tatras. They have been used for summer recreation purposes since 1797. In 1800 - 1872 while it was rented to Juraj Rainer, the settlement Starý Smokovec was open to wider public, too. It was right at the time when first bigger hotels, restaurants and mineral water sanatoria arose. In 1904 Grand Hotel (one of the most dominant objects in Smokovec) was built according to the project of Guido Hoepfner, an architect from Budapest. Later it was rebuilt and became three times larger than it was. Current development of Starý Smokovec is characterised by the process of modernisation, expansion of hotel-restaurant facilities, services, administration offices, business and traffic networks.