The Olive Journey: Pamukkale

Monday, March 19, 2012

Hierapolis - Pamukkale, Denizli, Turkey

The biggest hot spring pool

We did a day trip from Bodrum to Denzili, the town where Pamukkale and Hierapolis are located. Together with Pamukkale Traventines, Hierapolis, the ancient Greek-Roman thermal spa is UNESCO World Heritage Site. The thermal spa was founded in the early 2nd century BCE and since then it has been a place where people would visit to cure their ailments. In 190 BCE, the Romans gave Hierapolis to the King of Pergamon and that marked the golden age of Hierapolis. The city was destroyed by earthquakes several times - and that probably explains why the rocks and huge stones were scattered all over the sites. Hierapolis is packed with people at any time of the day and the hot spring was full with visitors.

Our guide briefed us on the history of Hierapolis

Rocks scattered all over the ancient site

Archaeological site of Hierapolis

Nymphaeum of the 2nd century CE in front of Apollo temple

Chunks of carved stones found all over the site

The modern public toilet

The hot spring flowing down into the travertines

Wednesday, November 2, 2011

Cotton Castle - Pamukkale, Turkey

Traventines terraces cascading down the cliff

They say a trip to Turkey will not be complete without a visit to Pamukkale. Listed as the UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1988, Pamukkale, which means Cotton Castle in Turkish is a natural wonder. The minerals in the water forms deposits of travertine and terraces site resembling like snow. The water has a temperature of 35 degrees Celsius all through out the year and since the Roman time it is claimed to have therapeutic qualities to treat several ailments.

The natural pool

We did a day trip from Bodrum. The journey from Bodrum to Pamukkale took about three hours and it was about noon by the time we arrived. We had lunch at the nearby restaurant. The cotton castle was visible from a distance and some said it could be seen as far as 20km away. Our guide Mehmet did his usual routine of briefing tourists on what we need to know about Pamukkale and after that we were allowed to roam the place on our own. We started with Hierapolis which is part of the site and left Pamukkale towards the end so that we have more time marveling at this humongous white rocks.

There were many people at the site and everyone was trying to squeeze themselves to walk on the travetines. You have to walk with bare feet, shoes are forbidden and if you are seen with any kind of footwear, the officers will blow their whistles and you'll be asked to remove them. Some parts of the stones are rough and sharp but still walking through it, is a wonderful experience. I didn't walk far enough to cut my feet but just to have a feel of it.

To avoid the crowd, I took a walk on the other part of Pamukkale where the formation of the limestone is still new and no one is allowed to walk on it. At a point where I was trying to cross-over a place, the security asked me to step on the grass field but surely not the stone! There are security guards at every corner of Pamukkale but I found a secluded place to dip my feet deep into the stream of hot spring and that was blissfully heaven!