Opened in 1987, the Republican Speleotherapy Center has for decades welcomed patients suffering from respiratory illnesses to galleries carved into the heart of rock salt. But its future is now uncertain, since the end of public funding in the name of a health policy based more on scientifically validated treatments. For some patients, however, this approach remains essential. This is the case for Armen Stepanyan, who has been making the trip from Kemerovo, Russia, for more than ten years. "I tried everything, sanatoriums, treatments, nothing worked," he says. "Here, I felt an improvement from the very first treatment." Supporters of the center believe it is part of a long Armenian tradition of natural healing, in a country renowned for its thermal spas and the therapeutic use of its mineral resources. Local authorities are now considering appealing to private investors to save the site, with the idea of eventually transforming it into a medical research center or a health tourism destination, in order to preserve both its therapeutic heritage and its scientific interest.
