The little-known springs of the Solotchyn village

The Solotchyn village, of the Svalyava region is found some 286 meters above the sea level on the Pinya river. The latter falls into the Latorica river near Svalyava. The village is quite well known throughout the former USSR and the resort "Kvitka Polonyny" (the flower of the meadow) opened in 1965 is to take all the blame for it. More precisely, the fame was earned by the natural mineral waters which originate here and are being commercially branded as "Luzhanska-4", "Luzhanska-7", and "Polyana Kvasova". In fact, I can’t think of anyone who wouldn’t want to try some of these while passing by as this point of interest is now part of all the tourists’ guide of the Transcarpatian region. Furthermore, it has also been recently added to the list of "The Wonders of the Transcarpatia". By the way, the village of Solotchyn lies right in the middle of the so-called "the mineral water zone Polyana", which ranks number one in Europe for the density of mineral water springs in any given area.

Now, it’s all good and all, but I don’t think too many tourists wonder if the village has any more mineral springs to offer as the three types I’ve referred to above totally dominate the local mineral water market not to mention the nearby village of Polyana, which offers another handful of mineral water types. In reality however, in the village itself and in its close vicinity one can find a few more springs although some of them are quite well hidden. In this story, I’d like to tell you about another three perfectly well operating sources of the mineral water in and near Solotchyn village. For completeness’ sake, I should also mention there’re a few abandoned or not so frequently used mineral water springs in the region.

If you were to walk for about 400 meters outside of the "Kvitka" resort towards the village of Polyana and wander quite deep inside the village, you’re bound to find an unremarkable building half of which appears to be dug deep into the ground. This is home to a mineral water spring known as the Wolf Kvass (Vovkiv Kvass). The name itself is thought to originate from the last name of the person who was once responsible for taking care of the spring back in the times of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. The water would be bottled here on site and transported to Europe via the railway. Prior to this, the spring was known as "Panoniya". The room with the actual spring is found in the basement of this building, a few meters below the ground level.



Check out the price – 25 cent per liter. The commercialization of the natural products in Solotchyn is surely impressive. I do wonder though who may be responsible for the price setting policy around here? I’m guessing it may be up to someone who owns a piece of land where the spring is located; at least according to the papers. And this shot was made exactly 6 months later and as you can see the spring has been hit by a 100% inflation. Again, makes you question as to what economical criteria are being considered around here to justify such a drastic cost shift.



As I already said, the spring is in the basement where a massive stone contains the "valve", which grants the access to the mineral water;



People are taking full advantage of the spring & the water consumption is always full throttle here



The sanitary conditions down there are far from ideal and I doubt the profits from the spring access fees are being used the most appropriately.

By the way, the locals told me, the water coming out of this particular spring has got some quite unique properties to it. Let’s just say some people tend to get a light alcohol-like buzz as a after consuming it. That being said, it doesn’t seem to affect most transcarpatians. It’s been actually scientifically proven that the differences are likely to arise due to the subtle metabolic differences among the people. I actually tested this by drinking half a liter in one shot but even after a bit of waiting I can honestly admit not even the mildest signs of intoxication could be noticed. I was about to ask for my 25 cents back when I noticed a group of people looking like the came from a large city. The security lady silently pointed to them, a gesture meant to say "pay close attention & see for yourself". And, in fact, the rumour wasn’t too far fetched as the very first young fellow emerging from a basement was a bit on the unstable side and even the look in his eyes was somewhat cloudy. He apologized to us and spent the next 5 minutes sighing until some of his more "resistant" friends accompanied him towards the "Kvitka" resort.



By the way, the taste of the water isn’t all that bad. It’s totally acceptable for every day usage.

Getting back to the car and taking a quick ride for another 200 meters brings us to another spring. Behind the last house, we are heading down to the spring. A small concrete well in the middle of the valley gives it away. The mineral water is slowly oozing out of it. The water is rich in iron and the taste is nothing too special.



Yet another spring is found at the far outskirts of the village, near the foot of the Mt. Tesanik, which lies close to the volcanic remnants. Getting to it entails taking a drive through some tiny narrow village streets for about one and a half kilometer and driving on a quite poor road rich in potholes and massive stones for another one and a half. And after all this, you’re up for a several kilometer hike. Once at the destination, one can see the construction of another resort nearby several mineral water springs.

There is a metal pipe close to the road and quite tasty mineral water is flowing right out of it and can be tried all year around. The nature is just gorgeous around here as well.



By the way, the road leading up to this spring, was once heading through all the way to the village of Synyak through the mountainous passage by the following mountains Dunauka, Solochinskiy Dyl and Seredniy Vverx. According to a local forest ranger, it was in a descent enough shape for a car to drive this route. It was subsequently abandoned and now with a construction of a new resort the rumours are circulating that the road may be rebuilt again. In my view, having a road connecting two famous national resorts back in service would be an excellent idea.

While we were tasting the water we heard a sound reminiscent of horses hoof striking the pavement. And indeed soon after we saw a mare and stallion pop up from around the corner.



A real stud with a lucky white mark on the forehead…

05.01.2011. 09:08

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