Searched for, used and appreciated since the Middle Ages, the thermal waters of the neighboring area of Oradea were the key to health and tourism in the area.
A brief history of our city...
1221
The earliest written testimony of the existence of these “baths” dates from 1221, from the time of the Hevius Abbey of Magno-Varadino, which lasted on these places until the arrival of the Turks. The damage caused by the invasion of the Tartars in 1241 does not seem to have affected the development of the area very much, because in the fourteenth century the number of villages around the thermal springs increased, in Haieu there were several priests who paid tithes (they delivered products) to the bishop of Oradea.
1332 - 1337
The church in Baile 1 Mai was probably built towards the end of the 13th century, the name of the priest being recorded in the papal reports from 1332-1337.
1405
The earliest mention of the resort is from 1405, in the papal diploma of Innocent VII, in which he granted forgiveness of sins to the hospital of the poor near Oradea, called Saint Ladislau, and blesses the chapel for the needy who proved themselves.
1584
A large number of people frequented the baths in 1584, during the plague epidemic, when the poor could be treated without payment. Nicolaus Olahus, a scholar who worked in Oradea, likened the therapeutic water here to that of Buda and those of Slovakia.
1660
After the Ottoman conquest of 1660, the winners, known for their bath culture, retained most of the buildings in the resort, for their own use.
1771
The first investments in Baile 1 Mai were made after 1700. On With the occasion of a trip around Oradea in 1771, Stephanus Hathvany showed that in Baile 1 Mai there were four pools surrounded by a wooden fence, of which three covered with shingles or reeds, one one being built of stone, the other being “muddy”, that is, a simple pond. Near them were ten accommodation rooms. The May 1 basins were attended only by the plebeians, the poor.
1842
The hotels appeared in Baile 1 Mai towards the middle of the 19th century. The first, named Stefan, was inaugurated in 1842.
1858
The number of accommodation units was increasing as the number of people going to treatment increased. In 1858, 1,448 patients were admitted.
1918
At the time of the Great Union, Baile 1 Mai, called at that time the Baths of the Bishops, were on the property of the Roman Catholic Bishopric, with an area of 58 hectares, 5 hotels, 3 treatment establishments and 5 pools, with the necessary facilities.
1932
The lake with water lilies from Băile 1 Mai came under the protection of the law in 1932, as part of the Pârâul Peţea nature reserve, the thermal water lily being declared a monument of nature, existing there along with other species, such as the thermal snail and Racoviţă’s roach, a variety discovered. by the renowned biologist.
1949 - 1989
The resort was nationalized by the communist regime in 1949, and the Bishops of the Bishops became Baths May 9, later Baths May 1. The investments made by the communist authorities, mainly between 1968-1977, meant new drilling and later new hotels, the arrangement of the beaches, the treatment areas and the recreational areas, as the number of train and bus routes from Oradea increased.
1990s
After the fall of communism, in 1990, the main investors were the private investors, thus the area developing strongly with new pensions and cottages, restaurants and shops.
