This hot spring town has been believed for hundreds of years to have healing waters that can clear anything from poor digestion to brain tumors. Like many hot spring regions, the waters were developed into a large spa region. In this case, the transformation happened in the 13th Century, and was commissioned by Charles IV. As spas were the place of nobles, the architecture has always been opulent. However, a series of natural disasters have destroyed most of the buildings that existed before the heyday of Karlovy Vary in the 18th and 19th centuries. The town is still quite grand and picturesque however, and the spa is still open over six centuries later, and still claims miracle cures for dozens to hundreds of ailments.