About 12 km from Sliven, near the village of Zlati Voyvoda, the water springs from dozens of springs in the middle of a field, each with a folk name: ‘Mochura’, ‘Zhelyaznoto Kladenche’, ‘Božata Banya’. The water is hot, around 48 °C, and the springs yield around 17 litres per second. The site is a spa resort of national importance. However, it is not possible to bathe here today.

The first modern bathhouse in Bulgaria

People have been bathing here for centuries. The earliest known building dates from around 1810–1820, the time of the Sliven ayan, Tahir Agha. The remains of the old Turkish bath still attract tourists today. At the end of the 19th century, the springs were channelled, and part of the surrounding marshes were drained and turned into a park. In 1902, the new bathhouse was completed, designed by architect Petko Momchilov and the Swiss engineer Heinrich Mayer. It became the first modern bathing facility in the country.

The building is symmetrical, with separate men’s and women’s sections. Each has a large hot pool and a small cold pool, baths and steam rooms, whilst the upper floor housed the treatment rooms. This floor was added in 1940.

The Palace That Never Opened

In 1985, the trade unions began construction of a huge spa sanatorium nearby, called the ‘Palace of Health’. It was to have 270 beds, an indoor swimming pool, a hall seating 250 people and a restaurant. Construction dragged on for almost ten years and came to a halt in the mid-1990s. The building never admitted patients and today stands as an unfinished concrete shell.

The holiday resorts in the surrounding area have suffered a similar fate. They have been abandoned, and the resort resembles a ghost town. As far back as 2018, the mayor of Sliven cited fragmented ownership as the main reason. At that time, the local council owned only the walkways, the gardens and the bathhouse building, whilst everything else was privately or state-owned.

What has been done since 2023

  • June 2023 — the local council purchased the land around the baths from the state for just over 40,000 levs, as well as four further state-owned buildings for just over 30,000 levs.
  • October 2023 — a contractor is selected to repair the bathhouse roof in order to halt the building’s deterioration.
  • June 2024 — roof repairs continue and Mayor Stefan Radev inspects the work on site.
  • May 2025 — the local authority announces that the complex will be granted under concession to a private investor.
  • July 2026 — the ‘You Are Sliven’ association launches an open competition for a concept to restore and develop the mineral baths, following the example of the competition for the Central Baths in Sofia.

Where things stand

This is more than has happened in previous decades. The building is now owned by the local council, as is the land, and the roof has been repaired. However, no announcement has been made as to what will be inside, who will carry out the work, or when. We know nothing about a project for the baths themselves, nor of any announced concession, nor how the local council will respond to the proposal for a competition.

The Sliven Baths illustrate something that can also be seen in many other places on our list: saving the building is only the first step. The baths will only become operational once someone decides what their purpose is and who will foot the bill. We will update the baths’ page when there is any news.

Operating bathhouses within 100 km

Whilst we wait, here are the nearby bathhouses which, according to our data, are currently operating:

Sources: Channel 6 – the purchase of the land and the roof repairs (2023), 24 Hours – roof repairs (2024), Kapital – the concession (2025), Kapital – ‘The Ghost Resort’ (2018), BTA – the ruins and the competition (2026), BTA – the old Turkish bath, Memories of the People’s Republic – ‘The Palace of Health’.