Chokrak Lake, also known as Chokrakskoe Lake or Misir, is situated in eastern Crimea, on the Kerch Peninsula near the settlement of Kurortnoye. This saline lake is a pure source of health: its waters and mud have been known for their curative properties since ancient times.
Chokrak Lake is a true natural wonder. It is one of the most popular locations for pelotherapy, probably one of the oddest centuries-old rituals for attending to one's health – bathing in mud.
During the holiday season, which starts in May and lasts until the end of October, the lake is very popular among tourists, who come here for the purpose of recreation.
Chokrak is the most mineralized lake in Crimea, which is why its mud is commonly used in alternative medicine.
This mud is produced by sulphurous springs and mud volcanos, which hide on the bottom of the lake.
Chokrak Lake’s brine (a high-concentration solution of salt in water) and mud are used to cure different health problems, from motor-control-related illnesses to nervous system problems. It is said to improve one's metabolism, strengthen the immune system and even improve breathing.
A tourist collects pink salt at Chokrak Lake, a lake with therapeutic mud in Crimea, Russia, on July 25.
However, mud therapy at this lake isn't advised for people with diabetes, asthma, tuberculosis, high blood pressure or arrhythmia, or for pregnant women.
There is also a spring with mineral water for drinking near Chokrak.
The therapeutic properties of local mud have been known since ancient times. In 66 BC, when this lake was called Metaka, its mud was used by Mithridates VI Eupator Dionysius, a king of the Bosporan Kingdom (an ancient state located on the shores of the present-day Kerch Strait).
The warriors of Alexander the Great, when not out conquering new lands, also once cured their pains with this “magic” mud.
Vacationers take mud baths at Chokrak Lake in Crimea on July 25.
The lake’s maximum depth is 1.3 meters.
According to specialists’ estimations, Chokrak Lake's mud resources reach 4.6 million cubic meters.
Tourists take mud baths at Chokrak Lake in Crimea on July 25.
In the Crimean Tatar language, Chokrak means a “spring-well”.
