Making the case for Băile Govora: The team working to give this historic Romanian resort a chance to shine again

Băile Govora, a historic balneary resort in Vâlcea county, in the region of Oltenia, is getting a chance at seeing its built heritage preserved and restored and its potential for development spotlighted as a multidisciplinary team, Studiogovora, is focusing on its neglected riches.

Băile Govora (Govora Baths) was set up as a public health resort in the late 19th century, as the waters in the area, rich in sulfur and iodine, attracted interest. Its thermal neighborhood was built in the early 20th century, and the resort's touristic development followed. After 1945, the resort, like many of its kind, saw the arrival of state-subsidized mass tourism. Interest in the resort faded gradually after 1989, with only a few small businesses and hotels still active there. Now, the interdisciplinary collective Studiogovora is convinced that this "is an ideal town frozen in time that needs to reinvent itself and its rich cultural heritage can form the basis for its new identity."