Kislovodsk is located 50 kilometers to the south-west of the other balneological resorts in the Mineralnye Vody Region: Pyatigorsk, Yessentuki and Zheleznovodsk, located in the immediate vicinity of each other. But all the same Kislovodsk is the most popular resort for those who go to the Mineralnye Vody Region for recreation. If you go there for treatment, you will have no choice, as your doctor will prescribe the resort and treatment course depending on what mineral waters you need.
The main difference of Kislovodsk from the rest of balneological resorts is the huge terraced Resort Park on the slope of the Djinal Ridge. The town properly is located at the altitude of 800-1,100 m in the foothills of the Caucasus Ridge. And though the mountains are far away and can be seen only in good weather, in Kislovodsk you can feel the mountain climate, which creates, together with Narzan springs, the resort atmosphere there.
The Resort Avenue with the building of the Main Narzan Baths can be considered the center of the town. It was just for this that hundreds of thousands of people have come there for several centuries. Currently the Main Narzan Baths are under restoration, but you can go to the October Baths for a full treatment.
The Narzan Gallery is located a bit farther from the October Baths towards the Resort Park. And it was just there that the biggest Narzan spring was tapped in 1894. The resort-visitors come to this gallery to drink Narzan, as prescribed: either cold, or warm, or hot. It must be noted that the taste of Narzan is fairly pleasant, unlike the hydrogen sulfide springs of Pyatigorsk. It would be difficult to even approach them because of intolerable smell, but if the doctors prescribe these waters – you have nothing to do but to drink them up.
At the Narzan Gallery a road to the Resort Park starts and goes along the river Olkhovka. The park is just huge. At the cypress alley rather steep ascent to the Djinal Ridge begins. The road is cascading, and all paths are carefully planned as to the routes and distances that the resort-visitors should take according to the recommendations of their doctors. At the top of the ridge there is the place that Lermontov liked to visit. There is a monument to this great Russian poet.
Most Kislovodsk sanatoriums specialize in the treatment of heart deceases. Some of them also offer the treatment of asthma and tuberculosis, as well as nervous system.
