Upper Castle Spring

Spring site: Castle Colonnade
Location: In the slope near Zámecká věž (Castle Tower) above the historical centre of Karlovy Vary
Date of first interception: 1769
Temperature: 51,1°C
Yield: 1.5 litres per minute
CO2 content: 600 mg per litre
Accessibility: Freely accessible

How to get there

Route 1: You may reach the Castle Colonnade if you walk from the Hot Spring in the spa centre across Jánský most (Jánský Bridge) to Tržiště (Market) Street where you will climb up Zámecký vrch (Castle Hill) to the former colonnade. The Upper Castle Spring is located in a round columnar arbour. This short walk is approximately 200 metres long and takes about 5 minutes.

Route 2: If you decide for the second route, travel by Bus No. 2 from the "Tržnice" (Market) city bus terminal to the "Divadelní náměstí" (Theatre Square) terminal stop. From there, follow Route 1 to Tržiště Street and to the colonnade. 

The seep of the Zámecký pramen (Castle Spring) was discovered in 1769 in the original marketplace known as Tržiště (Market) below Zámecká věž (Castle Tower) in the historical centre of Karlovy Vary. During the very cold winter of 1784, when water across the town had frozen, the Castle Spring was distributed to public fountains. Local physician David Becher then analysed its composition and found it to be identical to Vřídlo (Hot Spring). The first arbour was built over the Castle Spring in 1797. In 1809, the seep of the Castle Spring unexpectedly disappeared and reappeared only 14 years later.

The first colonnade was built over the Castle Spring in 1830 and it was replaced by the present-day Art Nouveau Castle Colonnade erected between 1910 and 1912. The re-emerged seep of the Upper Castle Spring was made accessible to the public when a small portion of the intensely gaseous water of the Castle Spring was supplied through a pipeline to a newly constructed pavilion in the upper section of the complex.