KARLOVY VARY

German Karlsbad, also spelled Carlsbad, spa city, Zpadocesk kraj (region), western Czech Republic. The city lies along the Tepl River where it flows into the valley of the Ohre River, 70 miles (113 km) west of Prague. The surrounding highland areas were once subject to volcanic activity, which accounts for the thermal springs in the vicinity. Of more than a dozen active warm springs, the best-known and hottest, Vrdlo (German: Sprudel), gushes a geyser of hot water (162 F ) to a height of 37 feet (11 m). The word tepl means warm; var means boiling. Possibly known to the Romans, the spa was discovered or rediscovered and developed in about 1358 by Holy Roman Emperor Charles IV, and the town was chartered in 1370. The alkaline sulfur springs, valued for treating digestive disorders and liver diseases, were patronized by many medieval rulers, princes, noblemen, and ecclesiastics; visitors' books date from as early as 1569. Frequent guests of the spa included the composers Ludwig van Beethoven, Frdric Chopin, Johannes Brahms, and Bedrich Smetana; the poets Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Friedrich Schiller, and Aleksandr Pushkin; and Tsar Peter I the Great. The spa's great popularity dates primarily from the 19th century, when the main baths, colonnades, hotels, and sanatoria were built. Before World War I it was a gathering place for Europe's wealthy invalids. The focal point of the modern spa is a colonnade that is the work of Josef Ztek, the Prague architect. Industrial development associated with the expansion of coal mining nearby has resulted in air pollution that endangers the spa. Karlovy Vary's industries include the manufacture of porcelain and glassware, textiles and gloves; wafers and dietary biscuits and mineral salts are also produced. Pop. (1991 prelim.) 56,291.