The History of Essentuki

You are probably wondering what in the world is Essentuki It is mineral water for your health and comes from the mineral waters found in the Caucasus, a region at the border of Europe and Asia located between the Black and the Caspian Seas, In this region is a town called Essentuki or in Russian Yessentuki in the valley of the Podkumok River in southwestern Russia from which we get this mineral water.

Ancient Legend

An ancient legend relates that at one time these places were nothing more than deserted steppe. A steppe is a large flat area of land with grass and very few trees most common in eastern Europe and Asia. Once a young family spent the night on the steppe. They had a baby boy with them who was feeble and ill. He could hardly walk and his hair didn’t seem to want to grow. When the morning came the frantic mother saw that her son was missing. She went to look for him and found him at the spring where he had taken a bath and that drunk the cold and tasty water. After this the baby boy became a happy child, he grew strong and had thick, shining hair. Ever since that time the local people call the small river Essentuki, meaning “living hair”.

The Town of Essentuki and Development of the Resort

Essentuki is located in the steppe valley of the Podkumok River. The resort here offers people many medicinal remedies and has more than 20 springs of mineral water. The climate is continental with warm summers and many hot and dry days. The autumn is long and warm with cool nights. The first frosts arrive by the middle of October and when spring comes again it is very short since the temperatures start to rise in April.

The beginning of the development of hydromineral riches dates back to the time of Peter the Great in 1717. The Caucasian Mineral Waters were officially declared as being medicinal in 1803. Soon sick people started coming here from Russia to be healed making their feeble organisms strong again. Settlements began to be built. The actual development of the Essentuki resort started a bit later and it finally opened in 1811. Soon there was the Cossack village of Essentuskaya in 1826 and there was a bathing hut with two wooden baths. The ill listened to the advice of doctors and drank the waters of the saline-alkaline spring and swam in the saline-alkaline water. Soon the waters were healing the sick and in 1840 the waters of the saline-alkaline spring number 4 and number 17 were dedicated as being good for drinking. Today this water is bottled under the name Essentuki with either the number 4 or number 17 on the bottle. It has a scent that takes getting used to and an acquired kind of taste but it will clear out and detoxify your body and make you feel great.