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Mira Gorgieva and Kiril Popovski: THERMAL SPAS IN MACEDONIA________________________________________________________________________________

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Division of Earth Sciences

Chapter 1.5

THERMAL SPAS IN MACEDONIA

Mira Gorgieva, Kiril Popovski

Geothermal Association of Macedonia – MAGA

(Kocani)

L E G E N D

Spalocation

Fig. 1. Location of the spas in Macedonia

Summary

Even with a long tradition in me-dical use of thermal waters, Macedoniadoesn’t have active thermal spas. A shortsummary of the situation, experience, pro-

blems, benefits of use and perspective ismade in this paper. It’s evident that theapproach to this economy sector should begenerally changed in order to reach possiblebenefits. Orientation towards in-troduction

International Workshop on BALENOLOGY AND “WATER TOURIST CENTERS________________________________________________________________________________

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of recreational activities looks as one of thefeasible and economically justified solution.

Fig.2. Ruins of the Roman Bath in Bansko – Strumica

Introduction

Appearance of the very large number ofthermal and mineral waters over a such smallterritory as is Macedonia is connec-ted to itsdiverse geological composition and continualtectonic processes over the past. Four maintectonic compositions can be identified, allwith completely different composition andevolution of the relief:

- Serbian-Macedonian Massif- Vardarian zone- Pelagonia Massif, and- West Macedonian zone.Thermomineral waters with different

physical and chemical characteristics ap-pearabove the rifts lines between them.

Temperature of the thermal watersdiffers, depending on the location andgeothermal field in question. Highest is thetemperature of the water in Bansko Spa(73ºC), then in Banja – Kocani (55ºC),Kezovica Spa (54ºC), Katlanovo Spa(40.5ºC), Debar Spa (38.6ºC), Negorci Spa(38ºC), Kumanovo Spa (31ºC), etc.

The same is with the flows on disposal,i.e.: Debar Spa (91.2 l/s), Kosovrasti Spa

(68.8 l/s), Bansko Spa (35 l/s), KumanovoSpa (3,34 l/s), Kezovica Spa (5.4 l/s),Negorci Spa (1.8 l/s), etc.

From the chemical point of view, thermalflows can be divided in two groups: Acidicthermomineral waters and sulphu-ric, jodic,radioactive, fluoric waters. Lar-gest is theparticipation of the acid waters with themineralization between 500-5,000 mg/l, mostof them with excellent curativecharacteristics. Radioactivity of some of themis significant, as it is in Kezovica Spa (43.7ME), Kosovrasti Spa (33.79 ME), Banja-Kocani Spa (26.75 ME), etc.

The use of thermal waters for medicalpurposes has been known from the ancientGreek and Roman times. Particularly Ro-mans used to built luxury baths for public andprivate uses (Fig.2). After the decli-nationduring the mediaval times, the same intentionhas been followed during the long Turkishoccupation with establish-ment of numerouspublic and private baths. After the FirstWorld War a more systematic approach tothe problem has been taken (chemicalanalysis, medical in-vestigations, etc.),however without buil-ding modern spa


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centers. The existing 7 spas have been builtduring the period between 1960 and 1980.After that, a new period of stagnation began,as a consequence of the economical andother influencing factors in the country andthe whole region. During the recent 2 yearssome new initiatives to recover the situationare in flow.

QuickTime™ and aPhoto - JPEG decompressor

are needed to see this picture.

Fig.3. Bath for medical treatment (Negorci Spa)1. Curative characteristics

Curative characteristics of the spas aremainly connected to the chemical compo-sition of thermal waters but also to the cli-matic characteristics of the spas location.

Debar Spa is located four km far fromthe town Debar, near to the Albanian bor-der.It is at 780 m above sea level, below theKrcin and Desat montains. Climate ismoderate but can be quite cold during thewinter months. Thermal waters are of sul-phur and iron type, depending on the sour-cein question. The first ones are used for bathsfor curing rheumatism, ishias, ecze-mas andfemale illnesses. The second ones is used fordrinking and baths and cure gas-tric, kidneyand urinary, bronchial astma, diabetis, giht,and anemia illnesses. That is one of the olderspas in Macedonia (about 700 years).

Katlanovo Spa is the oldest and mostknown spa in the country, lasting from theancient Greek times. In the Roman time itwas very important regional medical cen-ter.

Spa is located 15 km near Skopje (ca-pital ofMacedonia), near the highway to Greece andin an isolated location in the mountain, withclean air and calm atmos-phere. Severalsprings produce thermal wa-ters of suphur-jod type but also alcaline-carbon-acid type.Sulphur-jod waters are used for baths againstrheumatism, para-lysis, neuralgia, femaleillnesses, diabetis and consequences ofinjuries. Hot alkalin waters and carbon/acidwaters are used against problems ofcirculation of blood, stomack illnesses, highblood pressure etc. The cold alkalin andradioactive waters are used against stomackand urinal illnesses.

Banja Spa is 6 km far of the townKocani and is also known from the Romantimes. It has sulphur type thermal waters withlow mineralisation and radioactivity. It iscurative against rheumatic, skin and femaleillnesses, inflammation of joints, musculs andveins, stomack, gall and urinal illnesses.

Kosovrasti Spa is also near the townDebar, near the Albanian border. It is very


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near the Debar lake, at the height of 550 mabove the sea level. The spa is about 700years old, like the Debar Spa. It was veryfamous during the Turkish times, when wasbeautifully arranged. Thermal waters are verymuch sulphurized but also with carbonates.Some of them are of high radioactivity. Theyare curative against ishias, rheumatism,female and other il-lnessses.

Kumanovo Spa is about 3 km far fromthe town Kumanovo, near the railway line toBelgrade. Mineral waters of calcium-magnesium-iron type are curative againststomack, kidney, liver, urinal illnesses andhigh blood pressure. It is located in a beau-tiful surrounding with many recreationalpossibilities.

Negorci Spa is located at the far South ofMacedonia, near the town Gevgelia. Cli-



Fig.4. Indoor pool for medical treatment (Negorci Spa)

mate is typically Mediterranean. Waters arecurative against rheumatism, ishias, ne-uralgia, paralysis, female and skin illnesses.The spa is known from very old times but itwas arranged in 1903 by the local Tur-kishpasha and later on after the Second WorldWar.

Bansko Spa is located below the moun-tain Belasica, in the village Bansko. The spawas known in ancient Greek and Ro-mantimes but later on abandoned. Then, 300years ago it was renewed by the Turks and isin use continually until now. The biggest spacenter is hotel “Tsar Samuil” but there arealso several small hotels and resthouses.


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Thermal waters are the hottest ones inMacedonia (75ºC) and is of iron-sulphurtype. It is curative against rheu-matism andishias.

Kezovica Spa is located at the suburb oftown Shtip in East Macedonia. It’s knownfrom very long ago but there are no dataabout the real its origin. Thermal waters ofchlorid-hydrogen type with quite highradioactivity (43,7 Mach) and hightemperature (66ºC). They are curative a-gainst rheumatism, joint inflammations,female illnesses, some skin illnesses, etc.

There are also additional 19 thermo-mineral springs in the country, convenient forbalneological uses. However, the plans toestablish several new spa capacities havebeen disturbed with the recent po-litical andeconomical destroying of the country.

2. Energy use of thermal waters in spacenters

Temperatures and flows of thermalwaters in spa centers in Macedonia, at leastof the known springs and wells, allow energyuses in only some of them, i.e. in Bansko,Negorci, Katlanovo and probably in Debarand Kosovrasti..

Presently, the following uses and acti-vities are known:

In Bansko Spa, the water is used to heata greenhouse complex of 3.2 ha, ho-tel “TsarSamuil”, and a number of small plastichouses. It is also used for sanitary warmwater preparation for the hotels in the vil-lageand the recreational swimming pool in thehotel “Tsar Samuil”.

In Negorci Spa, all the spa complex isheated with thermal water and all the warmsanitary water supply.


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Fig.5. Indoor swimming pool (Hotel “Car Samuil” – Bansko



Fig.6. Plate heat exchangers in Hotel “Car Samuil” – Bansko

The best illustration what econo-micallymeans such use of geothermal energy is the

case of the hotel complex “Tsar Samuil” inBansko. They are saving above 300.000


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US$/year by substitution of heavy oil withgeothermal energy. In the case of NegorciSpa, it’s above 100.000 US$/year.



Fig.7. Geothermal heating elements (Negorci Spa)



Fig.8. Geothermal heating elements (Negorci Spa)


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Presently, there is an action in Katla-novo Spa to introduce geothermal heating ex-cept the use of heavy oil. Above 200.000US$/year savings are expected. The WorldBank pre-feasibility study resulted with avery positive economical justification of thenecessary investments.

When the other spas are in question,NUMBER OF BEDS IN MACEDONIAN SPAS

1. Katlanovo Spa 4702. Debar Spa 2823. Negorci Spa 2604. Bansko Spa 1605. Kumanovo Spa 726. Kocani Spa (Banja) 1307. Kezovica Spa 1058. Kosovrasti Spa 100

TOTAL 1.579

Table 1.

it’s difficult to expect any serious engagementbefore resolving the problem with necessaryinvestments in reconstruc-tions of buildingsand infrastructure, after ten years absence ofproper maintenance. In any case, Debar Spaand Kosovrasti Spa have temperatures andflows of geo-thermal water enabling seriousenergy pro-jects composition. However, dueto the very aggressive character of thewaters, quite expensive technical solutionsshould be introduced, conditioning carefulstudies in order to define technically andecono-mically feasible solutions.

2. Problem of introducing recreati-onalcontents in the spas exploi-tation

Number of beds of Macedonian spas isquite small (Table 1). However, for such asmall country, even that can be a good bu-siness. However, presently it is not becauseof several reasons:a) Technical state of the spas facilities isvery bad after ten years absence of regularwork and maintenance. Neither the medi-calequipment is contemporary, nor the facilities(accommodation, restaurants, in-frastructure,

etc.) can attract normal people to spent somemoney there, except for proper medicalreasons;b) Prices, paid by the social insurance, areso low that cannot cover the cost of work.On the other hand, bad technical state of thefacilities doesn’t allow to introduce hi-gherprices for guests who pay for the stay.c) Engagement of beds is very low over theyear (Diagram 1). Quite high con-centrationduring the summer months, it’s becomingvery low during the others.d) Only some spas are really “attractive” forguests (Katlanovo, Debar and Bansko). Note:Bansko has much higher parti-cipation thanthe presented one in Dia-gram 2, where thepresented data are quite old. Not only themedical reasons are the reason for that. Theinfluence of the location, quality ofaccommodation and facilities on disposalshould not be neglected. The case of NegorciSpa is very much illustrative. After getting anew (very active one) manager two yearsago, introducing the geothermal heating facili-ties and rearranging the environment, guestsfrom Greece returned back and the annual


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engagement of beds increased and itsdistribution over the seasons more equalized.

The above listed leads to several im-portant conclusions:a) Absolute must is to reconstruct the spasprojects and facilities. However, with-outtheir privatization, it is not possible to getinvestors for that. Presently, state still doesn’thave a proper orientation how to perform it.Offered partial solution with “freedom” tooffer service also to custo-mers who are notusing the “support” of social insurance arenot attractive for fo-reign investors.b) Introduction of new contents is neces-sary in order to make the stay in spas at-tractive also during the winter months. Veryillustrative is the case of Hotel “Tsar

80%

70%

60%

50%

40%

30%

20%

10%

0%

I II III IV V VI VII VIII IX X XI XII

MONTH OF THE YEAR

ENGAGEMENT OF AVAILABLE BEDS OVER THE YEAR

100%

90%

Diagram 1.

40%

30%

20%

10%

0%

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

SPAS

1. DEBAR SPA2. KATLANOVO3 NEGORCI4. BANSKO5. KOSOVRASTI6. KOCANI7. KEZOVICA8. KUMANOVO

1974

Diagram 2.


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Samuil” in the early 90ties. The indoorswimming pool and the night bar have beenthe main attraction for young guests fromBulgaria, Greece and Strumica who filled thehotel during all the weekends in autumn,winter and spring months.c) Change of the approach to the spa bu-siness in the country is necessary. Even theproper and attractive medical services are notenough to enable a profitable busi-ness withthem. Social insurance is simply not able tocover the costs of it, at least in a poorcountry like it is Macedonia now. The case ofNegorci Spa is very illustrative what can bedone. By reconstruction of o-ne of theaccommodation blocks (with proper centralheating and small pool with warm water forrefreshment) and arranging a simple terrainfor sporting activities, the spa became aregular location for out of season preparationand training of sports-men of the country. Inaddition, that’s happening during the lateautumn and winter months (normally weakengage-ments of spa’s capacities) and theyare paying a double price than the one recog-nized by the social insurance.

It’s evident that the experience of moredeveloped countries should be fol-lowed, i.e.:a) Together with the privatization of thesocial insurance to perform the privati-zationof the thermal spas, too. Under the presentconditions of political and econo-myorganization of the country, it’s not possibleto perform any normal mainte-nance orprofitable business with the exis-tingcapacities. Any kind of development is simplynot feasible.b) Even attractive for a group of con-sumers (older people), medical treatmentcannot offer an all year around engage-mentof the capacities. This group of customersnormally look to avoid absence of homeduring the winter months. In addition, it’s agroup of customers which doesn’t spentmoney aside of the essential costs(accommodation and simple food).c) In opposite, young people look forpossibilities to have pleasure recreation duringthe parts of the year when the nature doesn’toffer such possibilities. Indoor swimming

pools, recreation centers offering “water”activities for “free” evening hours, pleasantrestaurants and bars nearby, lovely parks forday and evening love walks, etc., particularlyif located near the big town concentrations orhighway connection roads can be a good basefor attractive business. This group easy spendmoney for pleasure.d) Introduction of an aggressivemarketing must be an obligatory part of thebusiness of such “water” centers. It’snecessary to make it very carefully in orderto keep the “normal” spa clientele (medical


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treatment) and, in the same time, to get thenew one (recreational activities). Properexplanation that they are not “mixed” butkept strictly divided must be given but in thatway that it’s evident that the peacefulatmosphere for the first group is guaranteedbut easy possibilities to “fill” the atmosphereof the second group are on disposal. Elderpeople likes to have the younger ones around,it’s making the pleasant atmosphere for them,too.

3. Conclusions

Following conclusions can be extracted ofthe elaboration made in this paper:- Republic of Macedonia is reach withgeothermal resources offering possibilities fordevelopment of a large spa business.However, presently, only 8 spas exist in thecountry and no development is present.

- Existing spas are in very bad state due tothe economy situation in the country duringthe last ten years. All of them need largereconstruction and renovation works.Investors for such activities cannot be foundin the country, i.e. foreign investments arethe onliest possibility to perform them.- Existing use of the spas for medicaltreatment only cannot guarantee their properfuture. Poor social insurance cannot pay thereal costs of work of the spa centers. Muchhigher contribution of guests coming asnormal tourists should be ensured.- The above said can be reached only byintroduction of new contents which shallmade the spas attractive not only for elderand ill people but also for the normal familiesand young people.- Enriching the existing offer ofrecreational activities by introduction ofmodern trim and body building centers andcenters for out of season preparation ofsportsmen is one of the very prospectivepossibilities.

- For the spas with convenient locations(Katlanovo Spa, Bansko and Negorci Spa)introduction of “water” centers can be thereal long term solution for profitable business.Realized studies show excellent economicalfeasibility based on existing market of guestsfrom home and neighboring countries.

Literature

Batev Toma: Thermomineral springs inMacedonia as Factor for Development ofSpa Tourism, Proceedings of the Pedago-gical Academy “Goce Delcev”, Stip 1979(in Macedonian)

Jovan Markovic: Spas of Jugoslavia, Turistickastampa, Belgrade 1980 (in Serbian)

Cesen SpA: Geothermal Energy in Macedonia –Technical and Economical Feasibility forReconstruction of Existing Projects andOpening a New Development Process,World Bank Study, Genova 2001

Kiril Popovski, John Lund: Geothermal EnergyResource of Macedonia,U.S.A./Macedonian scientific study,1996/1999


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Fig.9. Hotel “Tsar Samuil” in Bansko

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