Vichy - Grand Établissement Thermal

The place was founded by the Romans at springs already used by them.

In 1344, Duke Pierre I de Bourbon obtained the possession of the lands. In 1410, a monastery of the Benedictines was founded here. In 1527, the Bourbon possessions reverted to the French crown. At the end of the 16th century, the first patients came to Vichy for the healing springs, which were soon considered to be true "miracle springs".

The springs of Vichy became famous thanks to the Marquise de Sevigné, who came here for a cure in 1676 and 1677. She praised its healing properties. In 1761, two daughters of Louis XV came here for a cure. Their nephew, Louis XVI, had a new bath complex built at the springs in 1787. Napoleon's mother stayed here for a cure in 1799. It is attributed to her influence that the emperor had the "Parc de Sources" laid out in 1812. In 1830, the spa house was inaugurated. Napoleon III made Vichy his summer residence for several years. The town became a fashionable spa for the international aristocracy.

From 1899 to 1903 following the construction of the Centre Thermal of the Dome with the drinking hall, a 700-meter-long ambulatory and a bath in oriental style were erected. Around 1900, 40,000 spa guests per year came to Vichy, and shortly before World War I, the number was nearly 100,000.

During World War II, the town became the headquarters of the French Vichy regime under Philippe Pétain.

After the war, Vichy resumed spa operations and once again acquired the title of "Reine des villes d'eaux" ("Queen of Spas"). But that changed in the 1970s, when the celebrities among the bathers preferred other resorts.

Together with ten other spas of Europe the "Great Spas of Europe", Vichy was included in the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2021.

The "Grand Établissement Thermal" looks like a palace, fallen out of "Thousand and One Nights". The "neo-Moorish" building was inaugurated in 1903 as another attraction for the posh tourists of that time.

It is 170 meters long and 165 meters wide was designed by the architects Charles LeCoeur, Lucien Woog and Gustave Simon.

The most surprising feature is the oriental dome, which tops the central pavilion. Today the whole building lacks "business", there are just not enough people who wander around - and so it closes already in the afternoon.