Hierapolis-Pamukkale - Turkey

There is no sight quite like the one you will find on the slopes of Pamukkale, in Turkey near the Aegean Sea. It is considered to be the largest most elaborate calcium formation in the world.  From the distance it looks like a mountain covered with white cottonballs, local people call it Pamukkale which in Turkish means cotton castle (“Pamuk” – cotton, “Kale” – castle). This unique white wonderland is created by calcareous white terraces, shaped in incredible natural frozen cascades. The terraces are made of a gleaming white travertine, a sedimentary rock deposited by water from the local hot springs. In Pamukkale, there are 17 hot springs with temperatures ranging from 35^oC to 100^oC. Water from the hot springs is has a high content of calcium compounds and is carbon dioxide rich, when it reaches the surface and cools, carbon dioxide degases from it then calcium carbonate is deposited. The depositing lasts until the carbon dioxide in the water reaches the level of the carbon dioxide in the air. In the beginning it has a soft consistence which later hardens into travertine creating picturesque swellings and stalagmitics. The roughness of the surface is filled with water creating natural thermal pools. This procces has lasted for more than 14 thousands years on the hillside of Cökelez mountain.  Not only is it the natural beauty of this site that attracts tourists but the unique natural spa it creates, as it is known that the water from these springs has curative powers. People have come for thousands of years to bath in its waters, however the tourist boom in the 80’s and building of new hotels above the springs was detrimental to the springs. In order to protect this area, it was decided to create a National Park in 1988, and as a result the existing hotels were demolished in a dramatic attempt to preserve the site. Visitors can no longer bath in the pools and the flow of water once flowing and abundant is now largely dry and fragile. The best way to visit the pools is to walk up the slope carrying your shoes from the village of Pamukkale below.

In the 2^nd century B.C. above Pamukkale, the Romans built an ancient spa city called Hierapolis around a sacred thermal spring. The city quickly became famous as people came to soothe their ailments and ended up seeing out their days living in the city. Over the centuries the city was destroyed by earthquakes and is standing today as ruins partially restored. The sacred pool, the spiritual centre of the city still remains and can be used for a fee. Today you can still admire the ruins and monuments of ancient Hierapolis. The most famous are ruins of the Domitian gate and ancient Theatre, Temple of Apollo, the Nymphaeum which is a monumental fountain that in the past distributed water to houses located in the city, Necropolis and Martyrium but the most famous is Cleopatra’s pool, the water in this thermal pool is 36-57^oC.

In 1988 Hierapolis-Pamukkale was made a World Heritage Site. Both UNESCO sites are revered by Turkish people and a must see on any visit to this incredible country.

Gallery - Hierapolis-Pamukkale

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