Encyclopedia of Piestany

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The town of Piestany in the west of Slovakia has been a popular spa resort since early modern times. It attracted numerous patients including Ludwig van Beethoven, and the artist Alphonse Mucha. In 1917, Emperor Wilhelm II of Germany, Emperor Karl I of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and Tsar Ferdinand I of Bulgaria met at Piestany to co-ordinate their wartime strategy. The venue of famous chess tournaments in 1912 and 1922, from the 1920s and the 1930s, Piestany attracted visitors from all over the world.

Piestany continued to be popular after World War II. In 1987 it hosted the final match in the ice hockey World Junior Championships which ended in a brawl between Canadian and Soviet players resulting in both teams being disqualified. After the end of Communism, Piestany re-emerged as a popular resort both for its mineral waters and its mud therapy.