Lardy Spring

The Lardy Spring is the first thing you’ll notice as you enter the park of the same name. But if you could time-travel a few hundred years back, things would be completely different. Like many other springs in Vichy, Lardy was discovered by drilling in 1844. They started using the water just four years later and built a simple drinking fountain to mark the occasion. Back then, it wasn’t much to look at – just a spout pouring water into a Volvic stone basin, with a glass dome on top and two wooden kiosks nearby. Aesthetics took center stage in 1901 with the construction of the present-day pavilion by architect Antoine Percilly. The centerpiece is the elegant gallery that once stretched right above where we are now. It may not look like it, but it’s one of the last structures in Vichy built in the wooden factory style, which emerged right after the heavy stone buildings trend, before metal became all the rage. In 1925, the glass dome was replaced by a 10-meter-high timber-framed one. The interior of the pavilion is decorated with a stunning Art Deco mosaic made of a whopping 400,000 tiles! The third-class public baths next door, which had been open for 100 years, closed its doors in 1965. And by 1969, the Lardy Spring dried up due to the overexploitation of the underground water source. According to old records, the water had a high iron and mineral content. And apparently, it would turn your teeth black! But that didn’t stop people from drinking it. In fact, they were quite happy to use straws to protect their teeth. Noble society would do anything to enjoy the water’s supposed euphoric effect – especially the ladies who thought it tasted a bit like champagne and loved the bubbly sensation. Today, the magnificent Lardy Spring pavilion houses the city’s University Center. It stands as a daily reminder that here, “they once focused on healing bodies, long before cultivating minds”.