Jermuk: Armenia's Soviet spa town, with a waterfall, a water gallery and air at 2,100 metres
Jermuk is to Armenia what Karlovy Vary is to the Czech Republic: the spa town people went to, and still go to, to take the waters. It stands at 2,100 metres, at the end of a valley in Vayots Dzor, above the canyon of the Arpa river, and has concrete sanatoriums from the seventies, new hotels, a gallery where water comes out of taps at different temperatures and a waterfall in the middle of town. Jermuk mineral water is the one served on every table in the country; here you drink it from the source.
The waters
There are some forty springs, with water between 35 and 64 degrees, loaded with bicarbonates, sulphates and iron. The sanatoriums use it in baths, showers and treatments of several weeks for the stomach, liver and joints, with doctors and a regime, as in the USSR. The passing visitor goes to the water gallery, a pavilion with a row of taps at 30, 40 and 50 degrees, where you drink a glass of each and notice the taste change. It is free and in the centre.
The waterfall
From the town promenade a staircase descends the canyon wall to the foot of the waterfall, about 70 metres, which locals call "the mermaid's hair" for the way it fans out as it falls. In spring, with the thaw, it carries the most water; in August it is thinner but still worth the descent. Twenty minutes down and up, with a viewpoint halfway.
Around it
10 km away, in the canyon, the 10th-century monastery of Gndevank, among orchards and with a wall running right round it; on the way, the Kechut reservoir, green water with restaurants on the shore. The surrounding forests are protected as a reserve and have paths for half a day. In winter a chairlift runs with a short slope, more for a ride than for serious skiing.
How to get there and when
- From Yerevan, 170 km to the south-east: two and a half to three hours by car.
- Daily marshrutkas from the Kilikia station in Yerevan.
- For walking and the waters, May to October; for the chairlift, January to March.
- It fits with Yeghegnadzor, Noravank and the Areni cave, which are on the way.
Frequently asked questions
What is Jermuk known for?
For its thermal and mineral waters, bottled and sold all over Armenia, for the sanatoriums where they are taken as a cure, for the 70-metre waterfall in the middle of town and for the air at 2,100 metres.
What is in the waters?
They emerge at between 35 and 64 degrees, with bicarbonates, sulphates and iron. The sanatoriums use them for stomach, liver and joint complaints; at the gallery in the centre you drink them free at different temperatures.
How do you get there from Yerevan?
It is about 170 km, two and a half to three hours on the southern road, past Yeghegnadzor. There are marshrutkas from the Kilikia station. With a car, it combines with Noravank and Areni on the same day.
