Naftalan

Naftalan is a city with county status in the west of Azerbaijan near the Lesser Caucasus. The city is located south of the Rayon Goranboy and had 2009 7.700 inhabitants. The city's name is derived from the Greek word for oil and naphtha from the Azerbaijan - alan, take,. In the region there are rich oil deposits.

Currently living in the city and surrounding areas by many refugees from neighboring Nagorno-Karabakh, because of local disputes with the Armenian population.

Oil baths

In the region there are numerous pools, in which one can bathe in oil. This oil is attributed to a metabolic stimulating and disinfecting effect. Scientists criticize, however, that various constituents of petroleum are considered carcinogenic. The oil also bears the name naftalan.

The region was known already in the 12th century for the country's oil baths, in which was bathed in oil for medicinal purposes. The oil from naftalan was already clear at that time about caravans in many countries of the Middle East and travelers from Turkey, Persia, Afghanistan and other countries came to bathe in the oil. Even Marco Polo wrote about oil.

Since the late 19th century the oil was rediscovered as a drug and exported by the German chemist E. Hunter. The Azerbaijani scientist Yusif Ali Guliyev Mammadaliyev and explored the impact and components of the oil. According to their findings, they began to treat the oil. Ahad Hasanov began with the administration of so-called keratoses naftalan to patients. At the time of the Soviet Union, the city was famous for its spas. In 1980, 75,000 visitors came.

Today, there is a healing center in the city, are treated in the skin and bone diseases using the oil.