Mineral water is that which originates from a mineral spring and contains dissolved mineral salts, trace elements, and some biologically active components in its composition.
Mineral waters are of fundamental balneological importance and are widely used for rehabilitation, with the term SPA associated with hydrotherapy, also known as balneotherapy.
Bulgaria is one of the richest territories for mineral water on the planet, ranking second in flow after Iceland, with approximately 5000 liters of water per second emerging from the Earth’s depths.
In Bulgaria, there are around 200 known deposits with over 520 mineral springs, covering all known classes of mineral water. This is why some of the oldest settlements in our territory were established around thermal springs in ancient times. The Thracians were the first to discover the healing properties of the waters and began building their cities near them. Cities like Sofia, Hisarya, Sandanski, and Kyustendil were founded in this way.
Numerous archaeological finds prove that these places had prehistoric settlements where life continued uninterrupted for 6000 to 5000 years BC during the Neolithic period, thanks to the presence of mineral water.
Today’s Hisarya, Banya-Burgas, and Sliven were significant balneocenters.
An important characteristic of our waters is that 70% of them are weakly mineralized, with a mineral content of less than 1000 mg/l. The majority of mineral waters in Bulgaria are warm and hot, with natural temperatures ranging between 37°C and 100°C. Waters below 20°C are considered cold, those between 21°C and 32°C are hypothermal, those between 33°C and 37°C are isothermal, and those above 37°C are hyperthermal. Thermal waters with wide applications in cosmetics and SPA procedures have a constant temperature above 20°C when emerging from the Earth’s depths. Most of the sources in Bulgaria are warm, predominant in Southern Bulgaria, while the colder ones are found in the North.
Sapareva Banya boasts the hottest spring in Bulgaria and all of Europe – the geyser with its 103 degrees Celsius! Besides therapeutic purposes, this boiling water is also used for heating the municipality, kindergarten, and school.
The majority of mineral waters in Bulgaria are alkaline, such as those in the Sofia, Velingrad, Hisarya, and Kyustendil regions. You can find many SPA hotels in these areas, equipped with pools with healing mineral water and offering rehabilitation procedures.
Weakly mineralized waters have a wide range of preventive and therapeutic effects, strengthening the body, boosting immune defenses, acting anti-inflammatory, analgesic, antispasmodic, diuretic, detoxifying, and improving circulation. They are beneficial for the treatment of neurological, gynecological, renal, cardiovascular, endocrine, metabolic, gout-related, and musculoskeletal disorders. They are particularly suitable for prevention and hardening through a combination of drinking and physical exercises in mineral water pools.
Remember, for maximum impact on the body, balneotherapy procedures should be done after consulting with a medical specialist. National specialized hospitals for physiotherapy and rehabilitation are located in Sofia, Velingrad, Narechen, Pavel Banya, Momin Prohod, Sandanski, Pomorie, Hisarya, Kyustendil, Ovcha Kupel, Banya-Karlovo, Banite-Smoliansko, and Vurshets. And if you want to combine pleasure with benefit, search for the most suitable SPA facilities for your next vacation at spadetector.com.
