From Lviv to the Waters: Illness, Recreation, and Resort Life in the Nineteenth Century

We invite you to the lecture by researcher Vladyslava Moskalets on resort life in the nineteenth century, which continues the series of events "Let’s Have a City".

The popularity of resorts in the summer was very high. The practice of long vacations “on the waters” united different groups-gentry, bourgeoisie, and intelligentsia. In their letters and memoirs, as well as in newspapers, Lviv residents regularly mentioned Karlsbad (Karlovy Vary) or Italy, but also local locations: Krynytsia, Shchavnytsia, Ivonich, Romaniv, and Truskavets. These were long trips, lasting several weeks and months, and included not only health improvement but also a rich social life. The resorts offered balls, theater performances, and orchestra concerts. The importance of social contacts at the resorts was so great that lists of guests were printed in a special resort press. 

However, while the practice of recreation encompassed wider circles and united different groups, the places of recreation could separate them. Resort guides of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries published information about who preferred a particular location and why. For example, the more modern Ivonich, with its electricity and brick buildings, was a vacation spot for the Jewish bourgeoisie, while the rustic Romanów attracted those who wanted to escape the hustle and bustle of the city. 

Although in the press or fiction the spas are often mentioned as a place for flirting and entertainment, illness and treatment were often the main purpose of the trips. However, mineral waters and medicine of the late nineteenth century could not overcome a significant number of diseases, including tuberculosis. 

During the lecture, we will talk about Lviv residents who traveled to resorts in the late nineteenth century and described them in their letters, diaries, and memoirs. These testimonies will help us understand the paradoxical nature of the resort towns, which combined medical treatment and social functions and became another way of stratifying society.

Credits

Cover Image: Truskawiec, "Willa P. Schneidrowej", 1909 mal. T. Rybkowski / Polona