Starý Smokovec (Old Smokovec)
The oldest tourist - recreational area in the High Tatras. It is situated in the southern slope of the Slavkovský Peak. It is an important starting point for hikes to the central part of the High Tatras.
The local demand for the Smokovec mineral water has its roots decades ago. It is not excluded that it was connected with belief in old-Slavic Gods of natural resources.
A small hunter-cottage of Štefan Csáky (the owner of local forests) and a small hut grew up close to the mineral water springs in 1793. Those were the first settlements of this kind in the High Tatras. They have been used for summer recreation purposes since 1797. In 1800 - 1872 while it was rented to Juraj Rainer, the settlement Old Smokovec was open to wider public, too. It was right at the time when first bigger hotels, restaurants and mineral water sanatoria arose.
Further development of this area was dependent on building up the rail-ways between Košice and Bohumín (1871) on the southern side of the High Tatras.
In 1904 Grand Hotel (one of the most dominant objects in Smokovec) was built according to the project of Guid Hoepfner, an architect from Budapest. Later it was rebuilt and became three times larger that it was. Current development of Old Smokovec is characterised by the process of modernisation, expansion of hotel-restaurant facilities, services, administration offices, business and traffic networks. In 1947-1960 Old Smokovec was a part of the High Tatras district, in 1960 it became a part of the district Poprad. Since 1999 it has become a part of the independent town „High Tatras". 
Note: Central part of the town High Tatras
