The village is hidden in the bosom of the northern forested slopes of Stara Planina along the river Botunya. It is located on a huge granite diorite massif, storing an inexhaustible amount of warm mineral water. Surrounded by extensive meadows and orchards, the resort itself spreads over a large picturesque forest park with pine plantations and ornamental vegetation.
To this day, there is not enough data to prove the use of the Varsheki mineral baths in ancient times for medicinal purposes. According to the research of the geologist Prof. Lazar Vankov, they have existed since time immemorial, but there is no written evidence to judge that they were used for medicinal purposes in Roman times. According to stories of elderly people during excavations around the baths around 1890.workers have found a piece of a lead horse, and near the main spring, which is next to the bridge to the park, old masonry. Later, during the large catchment of the mineral springs, charred beams were found. Unfortunately, the lead horse was stolen by the villagers, who were making lead balls out of it for their fishing nets. The charred beams were divided by the workers, who made them into picture and picture frames.
The only remnants of the distant past - mute witnesses of attempts made to adapt the springs for use, no longer exist. And they could tell us a lot about the era from which they originate.
These very objects suggest that the springs did not go unnoticed by the Romans, who crossed this region in search of ores in the areas of Plakalnitsa, Ozirvite, Gorna and Dolna Beli Rechki, Varshets and indeed found ore deposits.
Unfortunately, there is no exact data about when the healing power of the springs became known. The only information from old people is the story of local resident Dimitar Luchkov. In 1848, he fell from a tree and suffered bruises that tormented him for a long time. Although he was treated by Naum the Jew, the famous Berkov doctor at the time, he remained in bed for more than a month. The elders gathered and decided to dig and clean the warm gyol and secretly, mostly at night, immerse the sick person. After 15-20 baths he got up and started walking. Still, the villagers decided not to publicize the case, fearing that the Turks, if they found out, would cause new troubles to the town. That is why the spring was filled with earth and stones. Thus, 10-12 years passed, until in 1860, the Vratsa superior Hristo Savov, father of the Botev associate Stefanaki Savov and grandfather of Dimitar Savov, suffering from rheumatism and moving with crutches, learned about the cure. He came to Varshets, ordered the spring to be cleaned and began to bathe in it. After 20-25 baths, Savov threw away the crutches. In gratitude for his healing, he generously rewarded the church and ordered an icon to be placed at the spring and two old men to be appointed to collect the donations that the bathers would give. On leaving, Savov advised the elders not to hide the spring, but to clean it and make it suitable for bathing, allowing its use by all those in need, regardless of faith and ethnicity.
After you left, Savov spread the word about the healing spring in the Turkish newspapers. From that time its use began. The number of visitors was constantly increasing. From 1864-1879, the church rented out the baths. The first tenant was the local entrepreneur Iliya Popov, who paid the church rent for one bag of money (500 groszy) in order to improve the use of the bathrooms. Popov erected a hut above the spring, covered with a shingle, which would protect the bathers from the sun and from the eyes of the choir. He also built another noise hut near the bath, where he sold drinks and snacks.
The popularity of the baths began to grow. Word of them reached Midhad Pasha, the governor of the Danube vilayet. This very active and reform-minded Turkish statesman, born in Lovech, at that time made significant administrative, improvement and economic improvements. With a commission that included doctors, in 1868 he came to Varshets to see and study the springs and possibly alienate them for the benefit of the state. The elders of Varsheki begged the cooperation of Berkovo leaders and chorbadji to intercede with the pasha not to alienate the baths. They all insisted that the springs were ecclesiastical. The Pasha promised to leave them to the church, but insisted that a decent building be built for the spring, that it be kept clean and that a certain fee be charged for bathing. Midhad Pasha said that he would be interested in the baths and would monitor their development. In the same year, however, he was called to Constantinople to take up another post, and after that the management of the baths continued in the same primitive way. Until 1878, the baths were a swamp that the villagers cleaned only in the spring. It wasn't until the end of 1879 that a small building with three wards was built for the first time without any special equipment. The bath building was built with three pools cut into the friable rock. In 1885, the building was demolished and replaced by another more comfortable one.
History of the settlement
Archaeological finds show that the Varshets valley was the abode of primitive people, the Thracians, that it survived the Roman and Byzantine eras, the arrival and settlement of the Slavs, who also gave the name of Varshets, as well as the time of the Bulgarian kingdoms and two centuries of slavery. The name of the city is mentioned in a Turkish document from 1576. The old settlement was located on Lukanitsa and gradually went down to the river.
Remains of Roman fortresses can be seen near the "Zanozhene" district. When excavating the foundations of a Roman bath, a lead pipe, small ceramic hexagonal tiles, Roman coins were discovered.
The remains of Roman balneological facilities and objects found in the city testify to the use of healing mineral waters since ancient times.
"Gingiva" - the flower of balneology
In the spa hotel "Tintyava" you can rest for 10 days with a card from NOI. And this is the most profitable holiday so far. There is no payment for sleeping and medical procedures, only BGN 27 is given for food. The overnight stay is BGN 25 per night, and medical procedures are paid according to the specified price list. The qualification of the medical staff is at a high level, you would feel equally good in the tangerine, in the gym, under the flattering hands of the massage therapists, with the skilled rehabilitators from the electrotherapy. You will even have energy left to dance in the evening at the restaurant where you will eat during the day.
In the former rest station of working peasants, known as "Base 3", it is even cheaper - only BGN 5 for food.
The address of the spa hotel is Varshets 3540, 16 "Vasil Levski" St., phone: 09527/22-74 (reception). The way to make a reservation is through the company's travel agencies in the country or directly through the establishment on the indicated phone number.
Diseases of the central nervous system are well affected in the resort - neuroses, neurovegetative disorders; diseases of the musculoskeletal system - arthrosis, Bekhterev's disease, gouty arthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, tendovaginitis, diseases of the peripheral nervous system - radiculitis, neuritis, plexitis, polyneuritis.
Recreation and tourism The closest and easily accessible place is the Waterfall - about 3 km away. Two roads lead to the Byalata voda area - for pedestrians and asph alt. The Zeleni del area, above the Zanozhene district, is preferred for a tent trip. Folk singing is held there every year. For lovers of mountain tourism, Todorini Kukli peak is of interest - one of the highest points in Stara Planina. 12 km to the southwest is the Klisur Monastery.
