TEHRAN – Badab-e Surt is a natural site in the northern province of Mazandaran, 95 kilometers south of the provincial capital of Sari.  

Over thousands of years, flowing water from two mineral hot springs cooled and deposited carbonate minerals on the mountainside, producing stepped travertine terrace formations.

Due to its salinity, one of the mineral hot springs does not freeze in winter because of its salinity. It has a 15-meter-diameter pool that is usually used for swimming in the summer months.

The other is tart, red, and orange and delivers the iron oxide from the depths of the rocks to the ground.

Badab-e Surt has been inscribed as the second saltwater spring in the world after Pamukkale spring in Turkey. It includes a variety of springs with very different flavors, smells, and water volumes.

Water from the springs can treat rheumatism, migraine headaches, skin disorders, and back and leg pains.

The sedimentary and mineral water flow of these springs has created intricate layers over time in various colors and sizes in its mountain downstream slope. With pine forests, shrubbery, bushes, and valleys surrounding the springs, the heights and hills have created a breathtaking scene.

Badab is a Persian compound of Bad which means gas and ab which means water, translating to ‘gassed water’, referring to the springs’ waters being carbonated mineral waters. Surt is an old name for the Orost village located near the site and a Persian word meaning intensity.

ABU/MG