Hierapolis

The main reason to come to Pamukkale is to explore Hierapolis, another great Unesco World Heritage site. The ruins of this once-grand city brilliantly evoke life in the early centuries of the modern era. It was here that the mix of pagan Roman, Jewish, and early-Christian elements evolved into a distinctly Anatolian environment. With its imposing theatre, countless tombs and crystal-clear pool, Hierapolis is not to be missed. Founded around 190 BC by Eumenes II, King of Pergamum, Hierapolis was a cure center that prospered under the Romans and even more under the Byzantines.

It had a large Jewish community, and therefore an early Christian church. Recurrent earthquakes regularly brought disasters; after the one in 1334 the locals finally moved away. The ruins sprawl over a wide area; to inspect everything carefully could take the best part of a day, although most visitors settle for an hour or two. The center of Hierapolis may have originally been the sacred pool, which is now the swimming pool in the courtyard of the Pamukkale Termal. Near the Hierapolis Archaeology Museum stand a ruined Byzantine church and the foundations of a Temple of Apollo. The spectacular Roman theater, capable of seating more than 12000 spectators, was built in two stages by the emperors Hadrian and Septimium Severus. From the theater take one of the rough tracks heading uphill and eventually you’ll reach the extraordinary octagonal Martyrium of St. Philip the Apostle. Views from here are wonderful and you will probably share them only with the goldfinches and skylarks. The ruined Hellenistic theater, the 2nd century agora, one of the largest ever discovered, the marvelous colonnaded Frontinus Street, still with some of its paving and columns intact, as well as the ruins of the Arch of Domitian, with its twin towers, the ruined Roman baths, and the necropolis (cemetery) are among the bizarre views that Hierapolis offers to its visitors.