Pamukkale Tours
Pamukkale, meaning “cotton castle” in Turkish, is a natural site in Denizli Province in southwestern Turkey. Shaped by the hand of nature and extant since the ancient times, Pamukkale is one of the world’s most outstanding legacies. The area is famous for a carbonate mineral left by the flowing of thermal spring water. The site is comprised of terraces and travertine formed by hot springs and streams depositing carbonate minerals; you will be amazed with the dazzling white Pamukkale travertine terraces. The water from these springs ranges in temperature from 35-100°C (95-212°F) so it’s been used as a spa since the second century BC. Pamukkale’s waters believed to have curative powers and been used as a thermal bath since centuries.
Pamukkale has also become a crucial site to Christianity after one of the apostles of Jesus, St Phillip, was murdered in this city. To preserve their appearance, tourists are asked to remove their footwear and follow a set pathway, along which are shallow pools where you can dip your feet whilst crossing the travertines. Noted for its extraordinary characteristics, the ancient site has been inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1988.
Hierapolis
Located near to Pamukkale, Hierapolis is an ancient cite that attracts worldwide attention for its majestic buildings and monuments. Once a Roman and Byzantine spa city, it has considerable ruins and a museum. The ancient Greco-Roman city of Hierapolis was built on top of the travertine formation which can even be seen from the hills on the opposite side of the valley in the town of Denizli, 20 km away.
The ancient city was built in 200 BC by Eumenes II. He built it in dedication to the Amazon Queen Hiera, wife of Telephos the founder of Pergamum. It lost its Hellenistic facade due to a series of earthquakes; however, it gained a new facade reflecting the influences of Roman architecture during the reconstruction period. The large necropolis is filled with sarcophagi, most famously that of Marcus Aurelius Ammianos, which bears a relief depicting the earliest known example of a crank and rod mechanism. The great baths were constructed with huge stone blocks without the use of cement and consisted of various closed or open sections linked together.
Cleopatra’s pool (Antique Pool)
Pamukkale Antique Pool, famously known as Cleopatra’s pool, is the perfect stop to alleviate those exhausted travel muscles in mineral-rich hot spring water. It is said that the pool was one of the favorite places of Cleopatra, the former queen of Egypt. You get to paddle amongst centuries-old columns and marble blocks which apparently, they fell into the pool during an earthquake and nobody removed them since then.
Paragliding over Pamukkale
There are companies there that offer tandem paragliding over Pamukkale and Hierapolis. Even if you are not a thrill seeker, just watching the paragliders’ and bright colors striking against the white and blue of the terraces, it will feel like giant butterflies are floating across the sky.