Train Station Murals in Piešťany, Slovakia

These murals are found on the walls in the main hall of the train station in Piešťany, Slovakia, a town north of Bratislava in the western half of the country. The town has the largest health spa complex in Slovakia, built on an island in the middle of the Váh river. During the socialist period, factory workers were given several weeks of holidays to spend at spa resorts like the one in Piešťany, so a mural depicting the healthy lifestyle promoted by the spa makes an appropriate theme for visitors who have just arrived in the town by train. The spa's importance as a place of healing for various illnesses is also a major theme seen here. Note the stance and position of the man in the centre of the top picture, with hands upraised in greeting and proclaiming his health and satisfaction with life to the world.