Pamukkale: Tourist Attraction In Turkey

Pamukkale: tourist attraction in Turkey

Today we are going to visit a cotton castle. No, we are not kidding, as this is what Pamukkale stands for , one of Turkey’s biggest tourist attractions, and it is not surprising given the beauty, history and uniqueness of this part of the country.

Where is Pamukkale?

Pamukkale is located in the Aegean area, within the Turkish geography. Located in the province known as Denizli, in a very central part of the place, it stands on a hill that dominates the Menderes plain from the top of its 160 meters of altitude.

What is Pamukkale like?

Pamukkale is a “Sacred City”. It was already considered this way by the Etruscans, in whose language, the place was known as Swaura, whose meaning was the one already mentioned. And this did not change with the arrival of the Greeks and Macedonians, or the Byzantines, who renamed it Hierapolis, in the same highly regarded terms that other civilizations once gave to the place.

View of Pamukkale
Pamukkale Landscape – Jixin YU

It is not strange, given the wonderful and incredible natural environment and the spectacular ruins that we find in this area of ​​surprising Turkey, that today Pamukkale is considered the eighth wonder of the world.

And it is that Pamukkale, with its incredible natural pools, has been forming over about 15,000 years, with water that gushes from underground springs at an exquisite temperature of about 34 degrees, without a doubt, a very pleasant sensation.

The water that appears as if by magic from the underground spring, runs through the entire Menderes plain offering an image that not even the most fertile imagination of man would have been able to devise.

Terraces in Pamukkale
Terraces in Pamukkale – John_Walker

This natural structure, made up of travertines, has been created thanks to the high content of calcium bicarbonate in the spring waters, which also emit carbon monoxide. The combination is what has given rise to the white touch that gives Pamukkale such a paradisiacal image.

History of Pamukkale

What today is one of the biggest tourist attractions in Turkey, since around Pamukkale an entire industry has been created that includes quality accommodation, historical trips and unparalleled thermal baths, in the past it was the city of Hierapolis, founded more ago 2000 years.

Pamukkale Amphitheater
Pamukkale Amphitheater – Anton_Ivanov

The Greeks built a city full of temples in this spectacular region in 2 BC Since then, this peculiar construction on limestone has been described as one of the great wonders of the planet.  Here you can still visit vestiges of its most glorious time, such as the temple of Apollo, the necropolis or the theater. Without a doubt, excellent attractions to visit in ancient Hierapolis.

And among so much beauty,  the thermal pools of Pamukkale, with its enormous fame as a place of special healing properties. For more than 20 centuries, it has been believed that way, all the civilizations that have occupied the place have done so.

Today, thousands of travelers rest their battered bodies in the pools of the Pamukkale, enjoying its sweet and warm water, in this space declared a World Heritage Site almost 30 years ago.

But if it is wonderful to bathe in the Pamukkale hot springs, it is no less wonderful to do it among the ruins of the ancient Hellenic city, later Roman, later in the hands of the Turks, and which has survived to this day thanks to its beauty and magnanimity.

Pools in Pamukkale
Pools in Pamukkale – Tatiana Popova

Climbing to the top of the hill in Pamukkale to see the unsurpassed beauty of the landscape is well worth it. From above, you will see the ruins of Hierapolis, so many times rebuilt by the action of earthquakes, but always beautiful and admirable.

And if you want to know Pamukkale in all its splendor, you must take a bath in the sacred pool. Among ruins of other times, you will enjoy in the warm waters swimming through ancient columns like you cannot do in any other part of the world.

There is no doubt that one of the main attractions of Turkey is Pamukkale, and it is not surprising, since no matter how much we try to describe its incredible beauty, it will never resemble the reality of stepping on those unique sacred lands and waters in the world. .

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