The Legend of the Spirit of the Springs

The mysterious Spirit of the Springs had dwelled at the site of the present-day Castle Spa from of old, ruling all Carlsbad springs and protecting their natural resources from depletion, as well as from the negative impact of natural elements.

However, the three most significant of these elements - fire, water, and wind - had endangered the local springs more and more, which were thus facing the ever-present threat of extinction and thereby, the decay of the town of Karlovy Vary itself.

Therefore, the Spirit of the Springs decided one day to undertake something quite challenging and dangerous that only he could venture owing to his power and thousand- years-old wisdom. He conjured the disobedient and wicked elements to a rock, which used to be his abode, and the spirit himself found refuge under the ground, being as close as possible to the springs. As he was not only powerful, but also wise, he realized in time that fire, water or wind cannot be spellbound forever. For this reason, the spirit releases these elements every two hours under his careful supervision and lets them act freely. Their moments of freedom begin with the Spirit of the Springs lighting a fire in the Sun Court, which floats through the sky to cause the rock to shake and slowly open under its touch.

With the rumble of falling stones, wind escapes the rock and enjoys its short moments of freedom with mighty thunder and flashing thunderbolts. Afterwards, the last element enters the scene - water - the Spirit of the Springs rises from the underground to appear in the centre of the pool with his dominant powers and to return the elements where they have belonged for ages. Thereby, the spirit restores peace and quiet in the Castle Spa and in Karlovy Vary. Clouds are floating in the sky and birds are chirruping merry tunes. The mineral springs are flowing silently, bringing what is most important to all -health, as we all must bring love to our life ourselves.