Larijan Hot Springs

Larijan Hot Springs in Mazandaran Province, Iran, near Rineh village approximately 73 kilometres south of Amol on the slopes of Mount Damavand, are sulfurous and geothermal springs whose waters are heated by the volcanic system of Damavand — the highest volcano in Asia (5,671 m) and a significant geothermal centre with persistent fumarole activity near its summit. The springs have been used for bathing within a long thermal tradition by communities in the Haraz valley since antiquity, and Larijan's thermal waters are traditionally associated with well-being among Iran's mineral springs. The setting beneath the colossal and visually overwhelming presence of Damavand — which dominates the skyline of northern Iran's Alborz Mountains and appears on Iran's 10,000 rial banknote — gives Larijan Hot Springs an extraordinary geological and cultural backdrop.