Open-Air Mud Therapy

The Open-Air Mud Therapy Site at Tuzlata is a unique natural health and wellness destination located about 5–6 km east of the town of Balchik, directly on the Black Sea coast, in Balchik Municipality, Dobrich Region. The name "Tuzlata" (from Turkish, meaning a salt flat or brine lake) refers both to the locality and to the coastal liman lake — also known historically as the Balchik Salt Lake or Kara Gyol — from which the therapeutic mud is extracted. The lake is a liman formed over an ancient landslide, and its salinity ranges from 28‰ in the eastern part to 160‰ in the western part, making it close to the salinity of the Dead Sea in its most concentrated zones. The healing properties of the Tuzlata mud have been known and used since the 18th century, and the first recorded medical application in Bulgaria is attributed to the Russian physician Ignatov, who used mud from the Balchik Tuzla as early as 1883. The so-called Tuzlena Baths — equipped with men's and women's cabins for direct access to the mud — appear in the 1930s, and in 1955 a specialised rehabilitation hospital was established on the site.The therapeutic mud is a liman-type peat, dark grey to black in colour, greasy to the touch, with a smell of hydrogen sulphide and a complex physico-chemical composition: it is highly mineralised (over 35 g/kg), medium-sulphide, and contains significant concentrations of chlorides, sulphates, and magnesium in dissolved form, as well as vitamins, trace elements, and biostimulants that reach the body's organs through the skin and bloodstream. The mud has low thermal conductivity, which means it retains its temperature for a long time — an important factor in its therapeutic effectiveness. Total reserves of therapeutic mud are estimated at approximately 38,000 tonnes in two liman lakes — the Shallow Lake (about 26,000 tonnes, with the mud layer growing by 5–6 mm per year, producing about 200 tonnes of new mud annually) and the Deep Lake. Only the mud from the Shallow Lake is confirmed to have therapeutic properties.The Open-Air Mud Therapy sector at Tuzlata consists of two zones separated by a wall — one for women only and one for men only, the division being made because the majority of visitors apply the mud treatment unclothed. The procedure follows the so-called Egyptian Method, known from antiquity: first, sunbathing for 30–40 minutes to open the skin's pores; then applying a 0.5–1 cm layer of therapeutic mud to the affected or whole-body areas; sunbathing again until the mud dries or reaches moist cracking; and finally washing off with sea or mineral water. The sector includes sunbathing areas, benches, changing rooms, parasols, and baths kept filled with fresh mud drawn directly from the lake. The Tuzlata specialised rehabilitation hospital operates alongside the open-air sector and is contracted with the National Health Insurance Fund, treating diseases of the musculoskeletal system, the peripheral and central nervous system, skin conditions, and metabolic disorders, and offering a full range of additional therapies including electrotherapy, phototherapy, and kinesiotherapy. From its taps and showers flows sulphide mineral water at 33°C with additional therapeutic properties.