The town of Morshyn is well known to all connoisseurs of Ukrainian resorts. It became famous due to its mineral water reserves, favorable location, as well as the opportunity to explore all the nearby attractions of the Carpathians. The city itself is located in the south-eastern part of Lviv region. It is separated from its own regional center by a distance of 82 km, and from the neighboring Ivano-Frankivsk — about 100 km. Morshyn is surrounded by an honor guard of low ridges of the Eastern Beskids.
The whole history of this Ukrainian resort is closely connected with the treasures hidden underground. In 1482 there was a written mention of the village of Mr. Nagvazdan, whose inhabitants were engaged in boiling salt from the mineral waters oozing to the surface. The Branicki noblemen bought the village and «won» a permit from the royal chancellery for industrial salt extraction by closed method. Five mines were dug, which were filled with water. The salt evaporated from it was not a success and was inferior in taste to that extracted from the diggings of Wieliczka. The noblemen who were unable to trade in «bitter salt» sold the saltworks to the Germans — the Morshtin brothers, whose surnames gave their name to this Ukrainian resort.
Morshin has already received the name. Now it was left to earn the fame of a resort of European scale. The new owner of the land in the Stryi valley — Bonifacius Stiller — took care of it. At the end of the XIX century he started to develop «green tourism», inviting influential friends to vacation in the picturesque region. In order to interest guests in the benefits of recreation in Morshin, a chemical analysis of local mineral water was ordered. Professor Radzishevsky, who published the results of his research in 1881, was engaged in it. For potential tourists was ennobled source number 1 — «Boniface», named in honor of the ideological inspirer of balneological recreation in the Carpathians, and number 2 — «Magdalena», glorifying the wife of the owner. The next one was named «Ludmila» in honor of the Stillers’ daughter. And No. 4, which exudes de-mineralized water, was dedicated to the Mother of God. No. 5 — «Adam» immortalized the name of the heir son of the Stiller family. The owners decided not to give their own name to the peat mud deposits of the «hog» for unknown reasons.
They started to fill baths with mineral water for those who came to Morshin on vacation, and used the «borovina» for applications. The opening of the railroad from Stanislav to Stryj contributed to the success of the promotion of this balneological attraction of Ukraine.
Things went so well for the Stillers that Morshyn became known beyond the borders of Austria-Hungary, under whose protectorate Western Ukraine was at that time. Wagons ran from Warsaw to the small village, with a clear inscription that they were taking guests on vacation to Morszyn. The water from the Bonifacius spring was bottled and exported even to the United States, and the advertising campaigns telling about the advantages of the spa were no less powerful than those ordered by the water treatment centers of Baden-Baden, Budapest and Karlovy Vary.
As well as the town history, almost all architectural forms of Morshyn are connected with the exploitation of its mineral and liquid raw materials. Before 1930, a water cure center for 12 baths was built in the town. To it there was a water pipeline and three wooden hotels for those who came to Morshin for vacation. The mud cure center and inhalatorium stood apart. In 1935, engineer Nikodemovich designed a «fungus» — a boulevard for mineral water. It became the hallmark of the present-day Morshyn as a balneological resort in Ukraine. In parallel, the Society of Doctors of Galicia initiated the construction of the «Spa House». Later, thanks to the efforts of the Soviet authorities, it was turned into a sanatorium «Marble Palace». After the Second World War Morshyn was enriched with 6 sanatoriums, 2 boarding houses, a new mineral water canteen and the most typical for the Soviet era House of Culture.
Coming to one of the most useful resorts of Ukraine today, you can choose where to stay: in a sanatorium with developed infrastructure or in one of the homey cozy mini-hotels, opened by locals. In any case, vacation in Morshyn will be useful, and contact with this balneological attraction of Ukraine will leave guests only the most pleasant impressions.