Aguas Calientes de Mérida

The Aguas Calientes thermal springs of Mérida State emerge from the heart of the Venezuelan Andes at approximately 1,680 metres altitude — a landscape of extraordinary ecological and geological complexity, where the high tropical Andes meet the lowland llanos in one of the most dramatic altitudinal gradients in South America. The springs rise from fractures in the ancient Precambrian and Palaeozoic basement of the Mérida Andes, heated by residual crustal energy and emerging at approximately 48–55°C into an environment where ambient temperatures can drop to near-freezing at night on the high páramo above. The contrast between the warm water and the cold highland air creates a bathing experience that is climatically unique among Venezuelan thermal destinations. The region was home to the Timoto-Cuica people — the indigenous inhabitants of the Venezuelan Andes — whose agricultural and spiritual traditions were among the most sophisticated of pre-Columbian Venezuela. Spanish missionaries and colonial administrators documented the thermal springs in the 17th century as resources of the highland communities. Mérida City, the capital of the state and a major university city, is the highest city in Venezuela (at approximately 1,630 metres) and the base for visits to the Andes, including the Pico Bolívar — at 4,978 metres, Venezuela's highest peak — formerly accessible by the world's highest cable car system, the Teleférico de Mérida.