The text recalls the spa and the village of Truskavets, as well as the history of the place. The difficulties of the current owner, Jarosz, in investing in the healing waters plant are also mentioned (Source: 'Tygodnik Illustrowany', Warsaw 1921, Półrocze II, p. 497, after: Digital Library of the University of Łódź).

A modernised reading of the text

Truskavets

Like other spas, Truskavets has undergone various vicissitudes over time. Known already at the beginning of the last century, it attracted a large number of sufferers who were not discouraged by the lack of transport and "appropriate facilities, because the curative value of the waters, the then still untouched forests of the Podkarpacie region and the strangely clean, ozone-saturated air made up for a number of acute inconveniences associated with settling in poor Ruthenian cottages. This is why not only locals, but also foreigners arrived in whole herds, bringing with them bath tubs and the necessary equipment, just to obtain favourable health conditions.

The first mention of the springs is in 1820, when they were discovered by Hecker, a subjugator of the nearby Stebník salt mines, while prospecting for ore. In 1827, the Treasury Board, notified of the discovery of the healing springs, authorised the addition of four rooms to the existing inn for visiting spa guests, but in the same year, the then chamberlain, I. Micewski, obtained permission from the authorities to build baths and residential houses. So much for history.

The scientific demolition of the waters was handled by Lviv doctors. The results of the dissection were such that Truskavets was predicted to have a great future as a spa, not just a Galician or Austrian spa, but a European spa, in the full sense of the word. The poor peasants' houses were soon replaced by mineral and peat baths with dozens of cabins, the pinewood turned into a picturesque park, the springs were cared for and protected from precipitation and pollution. Today, the spa is, so to speak, on a straight and fair path to making a career of it, especially as recent studies have found the waters to be highly radioactive. The war prevented the current owner of Truskavets, Mr Jarosz, from realising a wide-ranging investment plan involving the construction of large factory buildings, comfortable baths and hotels.

Even now, because of the currency, the plans, though not abandoned, must for the time being remain in the realm of projects, but in any case the present condition of the spa allows several thousand patients to seek healing here during the three summer seasons. Numerous villas are really comfortable, lit by electricity and mostly channelled, some, such as the company flats or the villas "Zofia", "Pod Matką Boską" and others, furnished with a certain comfort.

Its own railway siding from Drohobych, post office, telegraph, telephone, reading room, social club, concerts, theatrical performances, permanent orchestra, excursions, make the spa suitable as a place for relaxing holidays. Situated at the foot of the Stryi Carpathian Mountains in a land of mineral riches, right next to the oil basin, the Stebnické salinas and the silver mines, sheltered from the winds by the mountains, Truskavets is so far a real geological mystery.

While other spas usually have one specific type of water, ferruginous or oxalic, here we find an unheard-of variety of springs. Apart from sulphurous waters ("Edward", "Lipki" and "Parszywka" springs) and one of the strongest brine springs, "Surowica" (24.8% salt), there is a whole range of salty-bitter springs, the most precious of which are "Maria", "Zofia" and "Bronislava". But the real pearl, a balneological rarity, the subject of admiration, disputes and scientific research, is undoubtedly the famous "Naftusia", whose healing properties (purification of blood from urate) produce astonishing results. It is a light alkaline sorrel, supposedly the lightest known, as it has a gravity of only 1.003, and is eminently radioactive.

It is to this very diversity of waters, whose chemical composition cannot be specified here, that the table of illnesses recommended for treatment in Truskavets is unusually wide: from faulty metabolism and rheumatism to heart and respiratory diseases. The incidence is steadily increasing. Especially in recent years, when the spa has evolved from treating almost exclusively the eastern public from the Eastern Lesser Poland region, and has revealed its ambition to become a health resort in the grand style. It has all the conditions for this. NB. I feel obliged to mention that I received the historical details, the map and the necessary data from a distinguished fighter for a better future of Polish spas, especially of Truskavets, an outstanding balneologist, Dr Zenon Pelczar.