Pamukkale

Template:Short description Template:For Template:Infobox UNESCO World Heritage Site Pamukkale, ({{#invoke:IPA|main}}) meaning "cotton castle" in Turkish, is a natural site in Denizli Province in southwestern Turkey. The area is famous for a carbonate mineral left by the flowing of thermal spring water.<ref name="readers natural">Template:Cite book</ref><ref name="Unesco" /> It is located in Turkey's Inner Aegean region, in the River Menderes valley, which has a temperate climate for most of the year.

The ancient Greek city of Hierapolis was built on top of the travertine formation which is in total about Template:Convert long, Template:Convert wide and Template:Convert high. It can be seen from the hills on the opposite side of the valley in the town of Denizli, 20 km away. This area has been drawing visitors to its thermal springs since the time of classical antiquity.<ref name="readers natural"/> The Turkish name refers to the surface of the shimmering, snow-white limestone, shaped over millennia by calcite-rich springs.<ref name="Unesco" /> Dripping slowly down the mountainside, mineral-rich waters collect in and cascade down the mineral terraces, into pools below.

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Panoramic view of travertine terraces at Pamukkale

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Pamukkale sinter terraces

It was added as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1988 along with Hierapolis.

GeologyEdit

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Travertine terrace formations

Pamukkale's terraces are made of travertine, a sedimentary rock deposited by mineral water from the hot springs.<ref name="readers natural"/> In this area, there are 17 hot springs with temperatures ranging from Template:Convert to Template:Convert. The water that emerges from the spring is transported Template:Convert to the head of the travertine terraces and deposits calcium carbonate on a section Template:Convert long covering an expanse of Template:Convert to Template:Convert. When the water, supersaturated with calcium carbonate, reaches the surface, carbon dioxide de-gasses from it, and calcium carbonate is deposited. Calcium carbonate is deposited by the water as a soft gel which eventually crystallizes into travertine.

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White Terraces (natural travertine formations and hot pools) in Pamukkale

ArchaeologyEdit

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Travertine terraces at a hot spring at Pamukkale

There are only a few historical facts known about the origin of the city. No traces of the presence of Hittites or Persians have been found. The Phrygians built a temple, probably in the first half of the 7th century BC. This temple, originally used by the citizens of the nearby town of Laodicea, would later form the centre of Hierapolis.

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Colonnaded street in Laodicea on the Lycus.

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Archaeological site of Hierapolis in Pamukkale, Turkey. The photo shows the Frontinus (or Domitian) Gate at Frontinus Street.

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Pools inside the archeological site

Hierapolis was founded as a thermal spa early in the 2nd century BC within the sphere of the Seleucid Empire. Antiochus the Great sent 2,000 Jewish families to Lydia and Phrygia from Babylon and Mesopotamia, later joined by more from Judea. The Jewish congregation grew in Hierapolis and has been estimated as high as 50,000 in 62 BC.<ref>Padfield.com. "Jewish Congregation in Hierapolis".</ref> Hierapolis became a healing centre where doctors used the thermal springs as a treatment for their patients. The city began minting bronze coins in the 2nd century BC. These coins give the name Hieropolis. It remains unclear whether this name referred to the original temple ({{#invoke:Lang|lang}}, hieron) or honoured Hiera, the wife of Telephus, son of Heracles and the Mysian princess Auge. This name eventually changed into Hierapolis ("holy city").<ref name="Apollo temple">Template:Cite journal</ref> In 133 BC, when Attalus III died, he bequeathed his kingdom to Rome. Hierapolis thus became part of the Roman province of Asia. In AD 17, during the rule of Emperor Tiberius, a major earthquake destroyed the city.

Through the influence of the Christian Apostle Paul, a church was founded here while he was at Ephesus.<ref>Template:Bibleverse.</ref> The Christian Apostle Philip spent the last years of his life here.<ref>Papias. Early Christian Writings Template:Webarchive.</ref> The town's Martyrium was alleged to have been built upon the spot where Philip was crucified in AD 80. His daughters were also said to have acted as prophetesses in the region.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> During the 4th century, the Christians filled Pluto's Gate (a ploutonion) with stones, suggesting that Christianity had become the dominant religion and had begun displacing other faiths in the area. Originally a see of Phrygia Pacatiana,<ref>RAMSAY, Cities and Bishoprics of Phrygia (Oxford, 1895–1897)</ref> the Byzantine Emperor Justinian raised the bishop of Hierapolis to the rank of metropolitan in 531. The Roman baths were transformed to a Christian basilica. During the Byzantine period, the city continued to flourish and also remained an important centre for Christianity.

MuseumEdit

The museum contains historical artifacts from Hierapolis, as well as those from Laodiceia, Colossae, Tripolis, Attuda and other towns of the Lycos (Çürüksu) valley. The museum also has a section devoted to artifacts found at Beycesultan Hüyük that includes examples of Bronze Age craft. Artifacts from the Caria, Pisidia and Lydia regions are also on display. The museum's exhibition space consists of three hallsTemplate:Clarify of the vaulted Hierapolis Bath buildings and the open-air areas in the eastern side which are known to have been used as the library and gymnasium. The artifacts in open exhibition space are mostly marble and stone.

World Heritage SiteEdit

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The Theatre of Hierapolis

Pamukkale is recognized as a World Heritage Site together with Hierapolis. Hierapolis-Pamukkale was made a World Heritage Site in 1988.<ref name="Unesco">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> It is a tourist attraction because of this status and its natural beauty.