The High Tatras are considered a significant spa destination thanks to their climate and altitude.
Mikuláš Szontág Sr. is regarded as the founder of climate-therapy in the High Tatras mainly because it was him who established the settlement of Nový Smokovec in 1875. A climatic spa was created there because the area offered great conditions for healing various unspecified respiratory system diseases, e.g. asthma. After the WWII, the town of Vysoké Tatry was established in 1947 to serve for three basic purposes: 1. hiking, recreation and sport, 2. healing, 3. nature protection and research. This was the time when the spa tradition began in the Tatras.
