Around 1692, Count Frantisek Antonín Spork ordered the construction of a high quality health spa in the village of Kuks, based on the existance of health - giving mineral water springs in the area. The complex of buildings on the spa grounds, including a hospital and church, was designed by the Italian architect Givanni Battista Alliprandi. The grounds were also decorated with a series of statues by Mattias Bernard Braun, depicting religious allegories, along with the seven deadly sins and seven cardinal virtues.

Although Kuks was one of the most famous spas in all of Europe at the beginning of the 18th century, its popularity fell over the years, and following Count Spork's death in 1738, sections of the spa began to be closed. A natural disaster in 1740 damaged the entire valley, and some of the unused spa buildings, including Spork's own home, were demolished.

Today only the hospital remains, with its excellently restored baroque pharmacy and chapel, and the original statuary have been moved indoors to protect them from further erosion. In the north-east corridor of the ground floor, there was once a series of 12 painted images representing a Dance of Death, seemingly inspired, or at least influenced, by the works of Hans Holbein. Sadly, today only two of these pictures remain, and in poor condition. However, there is a door leading from the chapel to the crypt, bearing an image of a skeleton and Latin inscriptions.

Death and the Cardinal	Death and the Fool

The door leading from the chapel to the crypt	The inscription on the door