Poprad valley · a diagram, not a map

Żegiestów-Zdrój

A spa town does not fit on a flat map.

River, railway and slope lie side by side in one tight cross-section. Choose a place and a time layer: the drawing will show what the source material lists for that layer and what needs checking today.

How to read the drawing

Slope: green field with hatching
Railway: dark embankment with two rails
Poprad river: wavy lines
Frame with a “?” in the “outside the height scale” band: position and height not established, the height of the frame means nothing

Qualitative diagram: no scale, heights or distances. The top band with the “?” frame is outside the height scale.

Slope
Railway
River
Position not established (band outside the height scale)

Place

Time layer

Without JavaScript the drawing shows the default state (Spa House, interwar period). All nine entries are listed below, in the section “Nine entries side by side”.

Time layer: Interwar period

Spa House

Listed in the material built 1924–29, designed by Adolf Szyszko-Bohusz (according to the municipality)

Relation in the cross-section

On a terrace higher than the station: this is an assumption of the diagram, not a measurement. The largest mass in the cross-section, set against the slope.

What to look for

Compare the scale of the Spa House with the small station: the architecture of a stay and the architecture of arrival have different tasks.

Full entry and source ↓

Full outline – listed in the material for this layer.
Pale, dashed – does not yet exist in this layer.
Dotted, “?” – the material does not record this place in this layer: no data, not proof that it was absent.
Yellow “!” – present-day state to be confirmed, not permission to enter.

Nine entries side by side

Three places in three time layers, all at once. The entry selected above is outlined. The texts come from the V1 and V2 material; below each is a link to the source, which was not reopened in this version.

19th century · beginnings

Żegiestów-Zdrój station

Listed in the material from 1876

The Żegiestów-Zdrój station building dates from 1876. The regional government describes its timber cladding, colonnade and openwork shelter balustrade. Mind the names: Żegiestów and Żegiestów-Zdrój are two different railway sites.

What to look for. Look closely at the timber details. This is a smaller, more intimate scale than the later Spa House.

Source: Lesser Poland regional government

Spa House

Does not yet exist in this layer the present building

Today’s Spa House does not mark the beginning of the spa town’s history. The regional portal dates that beginning to 1846, long before the interwar expansion. The spa centre came first, its monumental setting later.

What to look for. Separate the age of the spa from the age of the architecture you are looking at. One locality can have several starting dates.

Source: VisitMałopolska

Anna spring

Listed in the material as a spring, not as a building

The municipality links the development of the spa with Ignacy Medwecki and the discovery of the Anna and Antonina springs. It describes water analyses from 1847 and the purchase of land for the spa in 1862.

What to look for. Read the name Anna as a trace of the locality’s beginnings. This is the history of a spring, not a recommendation to use its water.

Source: Muszyna municipality

Interwar period · expansion

Żegiestów-Zdrój station

No record for this period the portal describes the layout without dates

The station is a good point from which to read the layout of the spa: the regional portal places the Spa House, the bathhouses and the Anna pump room near it. Their proximity shows the link between arriving by rail and the spa part of the village.

What to look for. Link the three places into a mental sequence: arrival, stay, spring. This is an interpretation of function, not a marked route.

Source: VisitMałopolska

Spa House

Listed in the material built 1924–29

The municipality describes 1924–1929 as a period of planned expansion of the spa. The Spa House, designed by Adolf Szyszko-Bohusz, is among its most important buildings. The large mass gives order to the view of the spa town in the valley.

What to look for. Compare the scale of the Spa House with the small station: the architecture of a stay and the architecture of arrival have different tasks.

Source: Muszyna municipality

Anna spring

No record for this period pump room date: not in the material

Anna links the beginning of the spa with its later architecture. The regional portal lists the pump room next to the Spa House and the bathhouses, close to the station. Water, buildings and railway form a single arrangement of functions.

What to look for. Note the difference between the spring and the pump room: a natural resource and a building that serves to make it available are different things.

Source: VisitMałopolska

Today · rebuilding

Żegiestów-Zdrój station

Present-day state to be confirmed rebuild announced in 2022

In April 2022 the regional government announced the start of the station rebuild. It was announced that the building’s form would be kept and the timber details conserved. This news documents a plan of works; it does not confirm that all facilities work today.

Before a visit. Check the current timetable and the available entrance. Do not infer present conditions from the announcement of an investment.

Source: Lesser Poland regional government

Spa House

Present-day state to be confirmed closure in 2002, revitalisation

The spa’s website states that the Spa House closed in 2002 and now describes its return to receiving guests after revitalisation. This is the host’s account; access for visiting the interiors needs to be checked separately.

Before a visit. The 2018 photograph (linked in the sources) documents the state before further works. It is not a picture of the current renovation or of the current offer.

Source: Uzdrowisko Żegiestów

Anna spring

Present-day state to be confirmed access and water: no data

The regional portal lists the Anna pump room in a group of buildings undergoing renovation. It does not, however, guarantee present-day entry or the availability of water. Information about a historical spring is not information about a working service point.

Before a visit. Check the availability of the pump room with the host. This page gives no opening hours and no advice on drinking the water.

Source: VisitMałopolska

Limits of the cross-section

The drawing is an illustration, not a map and not a guidebook. The three categories below separate what the material says from what has been drawn in and from what is missing.

From the material

Names and the order of dates (list below).
Architect of the Spa House: Adolf Szyszko-Bohusz.
Regional portal: the Spa House, bathhouses and Anna pump room close to the station.

Assumption of the drawing

Spa House on a terrace higher than the station (an order of heights, not a measurement).
The shape of the slope, the width of the valley and the distances between things.
Relative size of the buildings (station small, Spa House large).
No route is drawn: the drawing does not define a way to get there.

What we do not know

Heights and lengths: the material does not give them, so they are not in the drawing.
The position and height of the Anna spring relative to the slope (a frame with a “?” in the band outside the height scale; its height in the drawing means nothing).
The directions from which the photographs were taken.
Whether the 2018 photograph matches the present state.

Note on access (state of the material: package of 10 October 2026)

The material contains no information about surfaces, steps, suitability for wheelchairs or pushchairs, or opening hours. This is a lack of data, not proof of a barrier or of its absence. The information about the revitalisation of the Spa House comes from the host and is not information about entry to the interiors.

Access on foot and by transport should be checked with the hosts of the sites and in the carrier’s current timetable. This page gives no routes, walking times or timetables. Żegiestów and Żegiestów-Zdrój are two different railway sites, so when planning a journey it is worth checking which one is meant.

The walking-time calculator from version V2 has been removed: the material gives neither path lengths nor height differences, so the result would only be a recalculation of the numbers entered. Saving in the browser has been removed as well.

Dates from the material (a list, not a timeline)

1846Beginning of the spa according to the VisitMałopolska portal; discovery of the waters by Ignacy Medwecki.
1876Year the Żegiestów-Zdrój station building was built, with timber cladding and an openwork shelter, according to the regional government.
1924–29Planned expansion of the spa described by Muszyna municipality; construction of Szyszko-Bohusz’s Spa House.
2002Closure of the Spa House according to the spa’s website; later revitalisation carried out by the investor.
2022April: the regional government announces the start of the station rebuild (an announcement, not confirmation of the present state).

Sources and verification status

Links carried over from V2. During the building of V3 none of them was reopened, so their content and availability need editorial checking.

Gmina Muszyna: Żegiestów [Muszyna municipality: Żegiestów]Medwecki, the Anna and Antonina springs, expansion 1924–1929, designer of the Spa House. To be checked.
VisitMałopolska: Żegiestów-ZdrójBeginning of the spa in 1846, layout of buildings near the station and on Łopata Polska. To be checked.
Samorząd Małopolski: dworce Doliny Popradu [Lesser Poland regional government: stations of the Poprad valley]Station building from 1876, carpentry details, announcement of the rebuild of 26 April 2022. To be checked.
Uzdrowisko Żegiestów: Dom Zdrojowy [Żegiestów spa: the Spa House]Closure in 2002 and the host’s account of the revitalisation (a source from an interested party). To be checked.
Wikimedia Commons: photograph of the Spa House, 3 April 2018Author per V2: Henryk Bielamowicz, licence per V2: CC BY-SA 4.0. Link only; the photograph is not embedded because the page works offline. Authorship, licence and description to be checked at the file.