Pamukkale

Pamukkale, meaning Cotton Castle, is one of Turkey's most extraordinary sights, a hillside cascading with dazzling white terraces of travertine, formed over millennia by mineral-rich thermal springs depositing calcium into pools of turquoise water. Above the terraces spread the extensive ruins of Hierapolis, the Roman and Byzantine spa city, whose theatre and ancient pool make this a UNESCO wonder of nature and history.

History

The Phrygians built a temple here, probably in the first half of the 7th century BC, which later became the centre of Hierapolis, founded as a thermal spa early in the 2nd century BC within the Seleucid sphere, where doctors used the springs to treat their patients. It passed to Rome in 133 BC with the bequest of Attalus III, an earthquake in AD 17 wrecked the city, and it became an important Christian centre: the apostle Philip spent his last years here, a martyrium was said to stand where he was killed, Christians filled the Plutonium with stones in the 4th century, and in 531 Justinian made its bishop a metropolitan (Wikipedia, Pamukkale).

What's there

• The white travertine terraces - the dazzling pools cascading down the hillside.
• The thermal pools - the warm turquoise water you can wade in barefoot.
• Hierapolis - the Roman spa city ruins and its great theatre.
• The Antique Pool - the thermal pool scattered with ancient columns.

When to go

Spring and autumn for mild weather and the fullest terraces; summer is very hot on the shadeless white slope, and water flow varies with conservation controls. Late afternoon light turns the terraces golden, and the crowds thin.

Before you go

To protect the terraces, you walk barefoot and only in certain pools, and water is rotated, so some terraces may be dry; it is not the endless turquoise cascade some photos suggest. It is busy with tour groups midday, and the white surface is dazzling and hot. Hierapolis above adds real depth.

Nearby

Ephesus and the Aegean coast are within reach; the ruins of Aphrodisias are nearby.

Key facts