Birštonas has always been known for its salty water. The small Druskupis stream flows through the town. It is believed that the stream got its name because the water at its mouth is salty. The stream used to be much faster and wider. It is said that in times of famine, people who had no salt would draw water from the stream and use it to make soup.
In 1786, the salty water of Birštonas attracted the attention of scientists at Vilnius University. A special commission was set up to study the springs, and shortly afterwards the first tests of Birštonas mineral water were carried out, the results of which proved the healing power of the water. At the end of the 18th century, a new research project was carried out in the area. A professor from Vilnius University began to search for salt deposits in the Birštonas area. He was followed by E. Liachnickis and the mining engineer Ulman, but their expeditions were unsuccessful as no salt was found. In 1846, Benediktas Balinskis sent a sick woman to Birštonas, and the water of the place helped her recover, and less than a decade later, in 1854, official permission was granted for treatment with mineral water in Birštonas.
The local landowner Adomas Bartoševičius was convinced that Birštonas could bring in a lot of money, so in 1854 he leased 17 hectares of land and built several wooden houses for apartments and a bathhouse. A decade later, the first villas were built, and bathing facilities were added. The middle of the 19th century is considered the birth of the resort.
For a while, the Birštonas resort was hampered by the Stakliškės spa, but its mineral springs gradually began to dry up and soon a fire destroyed the resort's buildings. Stakliškės quickly became a village of no importance. The poet L. Kondratavičius, also known as Sirokomlė, who visited Birštonas, wrote in his book "Nemunas: from the springs to the mouth of the river" that Birštonas had "18 well-equipped houses and a hall for entertainment".
Later, the place passed from one landlord to another. Eventually, Birštonas was visited by the wealthy from neighbouring countries. There was a stagecoach and a steamboat that travelled to and from Kaunas. Restaurants, kiosks, dance halls and hotels were built and developed rapidly, but the treatment was not taken seriously.
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