Naftalan Petroleum Spa

Naftalan in western Azerbaijan is one of the world's most singular and intriguing destinations, built entirely around the practice of bathing in crude petroleum — raw naphthenic oil extracted from wells first exploited in the late 19th century under Russian imperial patronage. The Naftalan oil, chemically distinct from conventional petroleum in its naphthenic composition, has been used for over a century within a long bathing tradition, with Soviet-era spa institutes welcoming over 70,000 visitors annually at its peak. Bathers immerse themselves in shallow baths of dark, warm oil for periods of precisely eight to ten minutes — longer is considered inadvisable. Whatever one thinks of it, Naftalan remains genuinely unique in the global landscape of bathing.