Not far from Lake Ilmen, where the Polist and Parusya rivers merge, stands the ancient Russian city of Staraya Russa. The first mention of it was found in the Novgorod chronicle of 1167. Staraya Russa is best known in history for its mud baths and natural mineral water springs. In 1828, a resort was opened in the city, not inferior in its healing properties to similar resorts in Germany and the Baltic states. The mineral waters of Staraya Russa have gained fame as medicinal and healing. Many contemporaries called this resort "Russian Baden-Baden", and its water - healing from all diseases. It was Staraya Russa that became the place where the Russian fashion of health and cultural pilgrimage was born.