place
Marienbad
also: Мариенбад, Mariánské Lázně
A fashionable Bohemian spa town popular with wealthy Russians for its mineral springs reputed to treat liver and digestive ailments; Uncle Ivan's claimed inability to afford a trip there is his pretext for visiting his sister's estate instead.
Reading notes
- The Privy Councillor §1 Marienbad
Marienbad (modern Mariánské Lázně, in Bohemia) was one of the most fashionable European spa towns of the nineteenth century, popular with wealthy Russians for its mineral springs said to treat liver and digestive ailments -- exactly the complaint Uncle Ivan invokes, half genuine hypochondria and half a fixture of his self-image as a man of means and leisure.