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Balatonfüred is a popular resort town in Hungary with a population of thirteen thousand, situated on the north shore of Lake Balaton.
Description
The town has two marinas, a string of carbonated mineral water springs, beautiful listed buildings from the middle of the 18th and the 19th centuries and fine restaurants. It has modern hotels and guest-houses to accommodate about fifty thousand visitors in the summer.
People come here to enjoy the mild micro-climate, beautiful scenery, famous local wine, and sailing and swimming facilities, as well as to revive the two-century-old tradition of socialising around spas, bathing and vacationing. The main events of the two-month-long summer holiday season include a ball for first-time visitors with a beauty contest and a wine-tasting festival, both in August.
Balatonfüred has a number of conference halls, a large clinic for heart patients, and a camping site on the lakeshore. It also has a number of wine cellars that sell white house wine in the vineyards on the hillside overlooking the town and the lake.
In winter the lake may freeze over for weeks so that skaters and ice boaters take over.
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State Hospital for Cardiology in Balatonfüred
With its 429 beds the State Hospital for Cardiology in Balatonfüred boasts the largest cardiac-rehabilitation center in Hungary. The hospital is built on the lakeshore and is flanked by the Tagore promenade (see picture at right), named after the Nobel-laureate Indian poet Rabindranath Tagore, who was treated here. Many other famous and ordinary patients come here to heal and recuperate year-round thanks to the carbonated springs and baths, which are one of the best-known healing agents in Balatonfüred. The Kossuth Spring and other springs near the hospital supply water containing free and bound carbon dioxide as well as iron, magnesium, potassium, hydrocarbonate, calcium, sodium, sulfur and other minerals. The temperature of the spring waters is 14 to 15 °C; they are collected into a large basin and conducted to the spa building. Then the carbonated water is warmed up to 32 to 34 °C and used for treatment.
External links
- Balatonfüred town Web site (in Hungarian) (http://www.balatonfured.hu/)
- State Hospital for Cardiology in Balatonfüred (in Hungarian) (http://www.bfkor.hu/)de:Balatonfüred