Opened in 1987, Armenia’s Republican Centre of Speleotherapy has, for decades, welcomed patients with respiratory illnesses into tunnels carved deep into rock salt, where the mineral‑rich underground air is believed to help ease conditions such as asthma and bronchitis. Once treating more than 300 people a year, the 4,000‑square‑metre facility now reportedly sees only around 50 patients annually after losing state funding in 2019–2020, leaving its future in doubt.