Nafthalan - " thick blood of the earth" , black- brown or yellow gold , as if imbued with the sun. The name comes from the word Nafta - that is, " flowing, leaking ' - the language of the ancient Medes, one of the state formations on the territory of Azerbaijan. The field has emerged first naftalan oil wells, and then the city of naphthalene .
HISTORICAL FACTS
The first mention of Naftalan found in the works of the great Azerbaijani poet and thinker Nizami Ganjavi (1141-1201) , where he writes about his observations of oil export naphthalan caravans from the village of Safi - Kurd , located near the present city of naphthalene .
The field naftalan - Naftalan city is from the Azerbaijani capital of Baku is 320 km long and 50 km to the southeast of the ancient city of Ganja . According to the archives until 1873 , naftalan extracted from shallow wells , hand- scooped .
Engraving of the famous British journalist and artist Charles Martin of the oil-producing Baku, in " Illustrated London News " on November 21, 1883
For several thousand years ago in Azerbaijan were able to use not only in oil but also naftalan for different purposes. Not only locals , but also soldiers of Alexander the Great, the Roman legionnaires , Vikings, would invade Azerbaijan , Alans , Khazars , and representatives of other tribes - naftalan treated their wounds . Naphthalane be exported as well : it exported to other countries caravan routes - to Kievan Rus , Central Asia, Afghanistan, India and the Gulf countries . Famous medieval traveler Marco Polo called the naphthalene 'magical solution to treat skin diseases . "
When in the XIX century boom in Baku oil industry in Azerbaijan there are many Europeans - engineers , industrialists, bankers. In 1874 a German engineer Yeager took interest in what the local people on Naftalan and started the production of ointments , " naphthalene " in Germany. He exported to various countries of the world. Obviously, Germans producing solutions based on Azerbaijani Naftalan were good managers , because this solution was used not only in European countries in the Russian - Japanese war of 1904 , the Japanese soldiers in nafhalan ointment jars were part of a soldier's kit first aid kits and used as first aid . On the jars even had the inscription: " Who is this ointment should not be afraid of wounds ."
Since 1920, the field naftalan taken over by the Soviet government and declared a protected zone . Since 1926, began operating a specialized resort " naftalan" in the area of the field where the patients were treated from all over the Soviet Union with diseases of the musculoskeletal system , with neurological , skin , gynecological , urological diseases . The number of patients treated with naftalan bath was about 70,000 people a year. In the Baku Institute of Spa was organized experimental laboratory for the study of the biological action of naftalan .
It has been over 100 years since the beginning of the scientific study and application of naftalan. Its high efficiency in many diseases firmly proved. Today the resort Naftalan - one of the oldest resorts in the world , a national treasure of Azerbaijan , the value of which is difficult to overestimate.
The city Naftalan is an amazing , unique in the world, " museum of crutches ." Here you can see the crutches variety of designs and sizes , walking sticks and just stick. All they are left by those who arrived in the " Naphthalene ," could not walk without crutches , and leaving , threw them here as unnecessary.