Mineral springs in the area of Belokurikha were discovered at the very end of XIX century.
The “Tomsk Province Vedmosti” newspaper published the news about the opening of curative springs in the village of Novaya Belokurikha on July 7, 1867. This date is considered the beginning of the town’s history. A resort settlement was established on the place of the village in 1920s. Its golden age fell to 1960-1980s.
The “Metallurg” health resort built in 1961 became the first of many health resorts existing today. Now it is called “Edem”, is completely rebuilt and renovated, so its great age is not noticeable.
The status of a town was granted to Belokurikha only in 1982, after the recognition of the settlement as a resort of all-Union significance. Since 1992 the resort has acquired federal significance.
The largest health resorts in the town are “Belokurikha”, “Sibir”, “Katun”, and “Rossiya”. All the equipment there is modern: according to law, in order to retain the license, they must update equipment every five years. Accommodation in a double room usually costs 2500-3000 per day, depending on the season.
The price includes accommodation, three meals a day and treatment. Generally, a health resort treatment takes 12-14 days. Late autumn and early spring are usually the quietest periods, there are few people, you can find a cheaper place. The least number of the public can be found here after the New Year holidays. At this time the health resorts sell vouchers for special promotion in order not to stand idle. About leisure time. You will find special excursion kiosks in the town centre, they offer various tours: a walk along the Mountain Altai, ethnographic excursions with visits to recreated houses of Russian peasants or Altaians, a trip to the deer nursery (“maralnik”).
If you do not want to go anywhere, Belokurikha can offer you conventional entertainments for “relaxation”: billiards, bowling, night clubs. But the main points of urban recreation are the “Water World” swimming pool (2 Akademika Myasnikova Street) at the “Belokurikha” Health Resort and the water park (4 Akademika Myasnikova Street) at the “Belovodye” Hotel.
Speaking about therapeutic factors of Belokurikha, these are primarily mineral and thermal springs. Local waters are called “weakly-mineralized siliceous fluorine-containing sulfate-hydrocarbonate sodium waters”. They have anti-inflammatory soothing effect, improve blood circulation, facilitate hormonal regulation of the body.
Thermal waters come to the surface with a temperature of +30 ° C and +42 ° C. The small area of the town includes a dozen of health resorts using these waters in all possible ways: baths, showers, swimming pools, saunas, baths, hydromassage. There are also muds from the Altai lakes and unique procedures, for example “irrigation”, which is, washing by a stream of mineral water.
People in Belokurikha say that there is no procedure of this kind anywhere else in the world. In addition, Belokurikha has therapeutic walking routes - terrenkurs. There are five of them, each route is characterized by a certain angle of inclination and complexity. The most part of the way passes along the Belokurikha River. Another resort component – skiing - is being developed. The height of the Tserkovka Mountain standing near Belokurikha is 800 m. There are several ski slopes arranged on it. Skiing season lasts from December to March; the thickness of the snow cover usually does not exceed 1 meter.
Author: Anna Dorozhkina