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So-called "Ladies Beach" is situated along Ulcinj's coastal pine forest, just south of Hotel Mediteran Resort, part of a succession of small natural beaches and quiet covers that exist along this Adriatic coastline. The beach here is known for its therapeutic springs of sulphurous water that is said cure women's infertility. It is believed that when the sulphurous water mixed with sea water rich in iodine, that there is a healing effect.
The pine forest canopy in this area is also enriched with natural resin fumes that are said to have further curative powers. The natural therapies of this beach have been well-known since the earliest part of the 20th Century. Scientific studies were first conducted by an Italian team in 1925 to authenticate the reputed powers of this beach.
But local lore says that it is not enough to simply swim in the waters to become pregnant, there is a ritual to be respected.
A woman must come to the beach accompanied by an older local woman, and visit a cave that locals call "the cave with a bad smell." Accompanied by the older woman, the younger female must undress and walk several times around a stone immersed in sulphurous brown water, in the middle of the cave. Once this ritual has been completed, the younger female then needs to consume a boiled egg brought for this purpose.
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