Dr. Vilmos Schulhof Promenade

The promenade is part of the park around the Lake Bath. Starting from the building of the Indoor Bath at the end of the pedestrian street, the dr. Vilmos Schulhof Promenade leads to the main entrance of the Lake Bath.

On one side of the promenade — shaded by plane trees and lined with benches — the Hévíz lake unfolds before us, and on the other side the historic buildings of the St Andrew Rheumatology Hospital. The buildings seen here were built in the 1870s, then in the early 1900s they were transformed into the two-storey houses still visible today.

Sights along the promenade

The main entrance of the Lake Bath is guarded by two cherubs, made at the turn of the 19th–20th centuries on commission from the Festetics family, and they closely resemble the cherubs of the Zsolnay family in Pécs. The dragon fused together from a lion and an eagle can also be found in the official coat of arms of the town of Hévíz.

In the mythology of the ancient Semitic peoples, cherubs served the gods. They stood before the gates and kept evil spirits away from them. Their images used to be carved in stone on the gates of kings' palaces or of temples — probably this is why, according to legend, the Festetics family had them made. If anyone walks between the two cherubs with no love in their heart, the cherubs speak up. But according to other storytellers, it is not the cherubs but the copper rooster placed on one of the bath's towers that speaks up if someone leaves the town without love. But this has never yet happened...

Opposite the entrance of the Lake Bath stands the statue "the Fairy of the Lake". The female figure's right hand rests on the coat of arms of the town of Hévíz, and on her left side is the symbolic figure of the cherub that protects the lake from evil spirits.