The abbreviation SPA comes from the Latin expression “sanitas per aquam” or “health through water” and it is in Pärnu that you can find lots of opportunities to heal yourself with the help of water. The resort of Pärnu is celebrating its 170th anniversary this year. This is a respectable age, and even today, the spas and rehabilitation centers still maintain longstanding traditions.
The birth of the resort of Pärnu dates from the establishment of the first bathing establishment in 1838, and the conditions for the development of the resort were created three years earlier, when Pärnu was removed from the list of fortified towns.
In 1837, a request to build a bathing establishment was submitted to the Pärnu magistrate and the first visitors were already received during the next year. In the summer, warm water baths and sea bathing was provided, and in the winter, the bathing establishment operated as a sauna.
In 1882, the establishment of the Beach Park was started. During the subsequent decades, a beautiful free-form nature park was established along Supeluse St., the avenue leading to the bathing establishment, and around the beach salon (assembly hall) in the vicinity. In 1890, Pärnu was entered on the official list of Russia’s Tsarist resorts. In 1891, the beach salon was completed, which became a central place for entertainment in Pärnu.
During the first period of independence, Pärnu had to start re-establishing its resort, but this under new political and economic conditions. In 1925, the bathing and vacationing areas of Pärnu were defined, which, along with the additions made in 1935, are largely identical to the current borders of the resort. In July 1927, the new mud baths were formally opened. The number of visitors to Pärnu increased during this period from 700 vacationers in 1920 to 2,500 vacationers in 1927. Most of the foreign visitors came from Finland.
In 1937, the Rannahotell was opened; in 1928 the Great Bridge over the Pärnu River and the Vasa Boarding House; in 1939, the dignified beach café. During the 1939 season, over 8,000 summer visitors vacatoned in Pärnu, and almost 60 percent of them were foreigners.
During the Soviet period, starting in 1945, a network of new sanatoriums and holiday homes was planned and developed. Pärnu was to become an important rehabilitation and vacation spot for the workers of Estonia and the other Soviet Republics. Pärnu’s traditions as a resort was not interrupted during the Soviet era, and currently, the Estonia, Sõprus, and Tervis sanatoriums established at the time are still operating successfully, while having improved considerably during the re-independence period and becoming recognized rehabilitation and holiday establishments.