UNESCO: Hierapolis – Pamukkale

POST NR. 200 – 🙂

Ever since we learned in school about the beautiful hot springs and travertines of Pamukkale, I always dreamed of visiting it. Earlier this Spring, I had the awesome chance of accomplishing one of my dreams and finally got to the ancient town of Hierapolis and the terraces of carbonate minerals which formed such a unique and beautiful place in Turkey, which has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1988.

With its’ impeccable white color mixing with the turquoise which is the water flowing through these terraces, Pamukkale has been attracting “tourists” for hundreds of years. In fact it has been such a popular point of interest, that it was actually frequented by too many people, who bathed in the terraces until the late 80’s, thus causing damage to the priceless heritage site.

Today, those who visit can only follow marked paths, and must take their shoes off, for there are guards that  blow their whistle if you enter with shoes. Swimming is strictly forbidden in the travertines! And I actually read somewhere that there is a limited amount of water because of the hotels that were in the surroundings and used the thermal waters of Pamukkale for their swimming pools (they have been demolished in the ’80s), so not all the terraces have water in them at once. 

There is a spring which is controlled by the caretakers of the World Heritage Site, which is set off every now and then, so tourists can stick their feet in the running hot water – it’s kind of an amazing feeling :).

On the site there is also a place called Cleopatra’s Bath, where you can swim in an appetizingly turquoise water among ancient ruins for two hours, if you pay a 16 euro fee. Unfortunately, we only spent 2 whole hours in Pamukkale alone, so we didn’t actually have time to try the bath – but next time, I’ll be sure to bring a swimsuit!

Another thing I regretted about staying for such a short while in this amazing, historic place was that we didn’t get the chance to look around in the ancient town of Hierapolis, which is huge by how it looks on the map! So this is the second main reason I would like to get back there, because I would love to read and understand it’s fascinating history while admiring the ruins.

Related posts:

How we managed to see Kusadasi’s Fortress after all UNESCO – Meteoras III: The Formations UNESCO: Segesvár/Sighişoara Old Town The Grand Turkish Bazaar Experience