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Published: November 6th 2022
As mentioned in the last blog we decided to take a few days to do some land travel in Turkey. The night before we were scheduled to leave Bob decided to pour some water in the bilge to clean it out. This should have been just a quick thing to do, but the bilge alarm went off and stayed on! Yikes, something else. Bob was now having to figure out the problem and in the end he decided to put in a whole new unit. Always good to have spares onboard for situations like this as it was 7:30pm so no shops would be open and we have to leave at 8:30 AM the next morning to catch the bus. We actually have 2 brand new units as spares, 1 exactly the same and the other was a little more powerful. Decided to put in the more powerful one, but as it wasn’t exactly the same it took a little more work to get it in. Even though we wish it didn’t happen then, in the long run it is best to be sure your bilge pump is working well.
With the last minute decision to do a
little land travel for a few days, we decided to not go too far away so we weren’t sitting on a bus for hours on end, but yet see a few places of interest. We also knew that as our flights back to the US were coming up soon, we would need time back on Tsamaya to finish up a few things before leaving her for the winter. One place that is well advertised everywhere you go is Pamukkale which in Turkish means “cotton castle”. We have had mixed feelings about going there as it looks beautiful from the tourist advertisements, but we also had heard it was very crowded and we really weren’t into going to soak in thermal baths with hundreds of other people. As it is only about a 4 hour bus trip there I did a little reading as I had also heard there was ruins of an ancient spa city, Hieropolis at Pamukkale. With that information we decided to “go for it” as well as thought that in October it might not be as crowded. The first couple days of our land travel was set.
As we have done bus travel here
These Mountain Tops Are Covered in Clouds
looking almost like they are snow coveredbefore we knew that we could easily get to the bus station in Marmaris using the small bus service that goes from the marina into town. We took that early in the morning and hopped onto the bus to Denizli. We are still amazed at how inexpensive bus travel is here as the total cost for the 4 hour bus trip for both of us together was equivalent to only $16. The buses are very comfortable as there are only 3 seats across rather than 4 seats across and they still provide beverages and snacks. It really has been a wonderful way to be able to sit back and enjoy the scenery and not have to be concerned with anything else. We do know it can have its downsides as you can’t stop on the way if you see something of interest, but for convenience, the buses here in Turkey have served us well. We had been through some of this area by bus before, but we still enjoy the beauty of the mountain passes as well as the agricultural areas in the valley. If we didn’t know we were changing elevation but the views out the window, our ears
kept popping reminding us of the changes in elevation.
When we got off the bus in Denizli, we knew we had to transfer to a smaller bus to get over to the site of Pamukkale and Hieropolis. We knew from other bus stations we had been to that it is very well organized – on the bottom floor of the bus stations they have the smaller local buses while the larger intercity buses come into the top area. We just automatically started to go downstairs and figured we’d ask down there. Well, we didn’t have to say anything -as soon as any of the drivers saw us, they said “Pamukkale” and pointed to the bus we should take. All through the basement all the drivers did the same to us. Guess we definitely stand out as tourist and it is obvious most people that come through this station are headed to Pamukkale. It definitely made us chuckle!
We did run into a slight problem as we didn’t know where to get off the smaller bus to get to our hotel. Well, we found out that we stayed on too long and very quickly we
I Just Couldn't Get Enough of the Mountains
looking in the distance they seem to go forever were driving out of town and going onto another village. Oh well, we got to see a little more of the area! We got off in the next village and as it was past lunch time we decided to walk around a little and find a place to eat. There were small buses that were going back in the right direction, but everyone we talked to didn’t give us confidence that we would be getting on the right bus. The confusion here is that Pamukkale is the tourist site, but there is also the village located there so not really sure if we’d be going to one of three entrance gates to the tourist attraction OR to the village itself. Luckily there was a taxi stand nearby so got one to take us directly to the hotel which worked out well.
Lodging here is inexpensive to in the US and some other places we have traveled. We were staying at the Anya Resort Hotel which had two lovely swimming pools, an outside bar area, comfortable lounge and a full breakfast included for $35 per night. It was easily in walking distance to the rest of the village
(there isn’t too much there) and you can see Pamukkale as one of the three entrance gates starts at the village. That afternoon we did walk up to the gate to check it out and we were told that it might be better to go to either the south or north gate to see Hieropolis and then come down through Pamukkale and end up at the village entrance so that was now the plan.
We took a taxi to the South Gate with the plan to exit through the middle gate that comes directly back into town as was suggested to us. Sounded like good advice. The ticket includes entrance to the ruins, the travertine pools and the musuem. Entrance fee for all of this is only 200 TL (currently is equal to about $11 ) For an extra 75 TL (($4) you get an audio guide which we usually like to get. We paid for it and then were told that they were going to keep my passport as a deposit so would have to backtrack to the South Gate again. With that in mind we gave back the audio guide and got a refund. Thankfully,
we did find that they had quite good signage around at the main sites in Hieropolis, but am sure we did probably miss out on some of the history of the area.
We have been to numerous ruins so some of the features in this city were similar to others, but there were many differences which made this quite interesting. It started as a Greek city in the 2
nd C. BC in an active earthquake area. It was destroyed numerous times due to those earthquakes, but it also was rebuilt a few times as well as can be confirmed through the archeological findings here. It was situated on a thermal spring known for its curative powers which became a draw attracting people from other communities in the area. In 133 BC, the city was under the control of the Roman Empire, but was destroyed by an earthquake in 17 AD. Nero decided to rebuilt the city in 60 AD and it reached its height between 196 – 215 AD. The buildings that are still here are from the time period of 60 AD. When Nero rebuilt, he used a grid plan changing the appearance of the city
from a Hellenistic one to a Roman one. Hieropolis was an important center in the Byzantine period and it became a center of Christianity starting in the 4
th C. AD. St. Philip, one of the disciplines was crucified here in 80 AD, therefore after his death a church was built in his memory which is still here. The city was destroyed by earthquake in the 7
th C. AD, but in the 12
th C. this area was home to a small town again. By the 14
th C. the area was completely abandoned. The first excavations of the area were in 1887 by Germans, but the most extensive work started again in 1957 by an Italian archeologist and his team. Work is still going on and they are always learning more. The site became one of the UNESCO World Heritage Sites in 1988
We have seen numerous theatres at the various ruins we have visited, but even with that, this one is quite impressive. They estimate that the theatre could hold approximately 15,000 people. An Italian archeology team have been concentrating for years on uncovering the stone friezes and statutes that had been on displayed here at the Theatre.
Had to Have Pomegranate Juice
with our lunch when we arrived They actually started work at the site of the theatre in 1957 due to the good condition of it at that time. It is fortunate that travelers from the 18
th and 19
th C. had written many detailed descriptions as well as some made engravings of the theatre which have been immensely helpful to their work. In visiting the Archeological Museum here, we were able to view many close up as there is a room dedicated to the stone friezes and statutes that were found to have been at the Theatre here in Hieropolis. Not only is the theatre worth the climb up the hill to see, but as it was built on the side of the hill it provides you with a wonderful view of the valley and surrounding mountains when you are at the top.
There was an area where very tonic gases (carbon dioxide) came from a cave and as a result the Temple to Pluto, Plutonion, was established. Pluto was the Roman god of the underworld and an extensive site was built here. There was a 1
st C. geographer, Strabo, that described the rituals held here and told that the animals that entered were
met with sudden death. The Italian archeologist, D’Andria, spent time researching and determining the route of the thermal springs which helped him discover Pluto’s Gate, the entrance to the cave with the toxic gases. This area had been destroyed by Christians in the 6
th C., but has now been discovered and we are learning more about the rituals held here.
It was excavated between 2011-2014 and they discovered that it was made up of numerous buildings that were built over the time period starting in the 2
nd C BC through the 3
rd C. AD. It appears to be quite an elaborate temple with a 3.5 meter (11.5 feet) high statute of Pluto, 2 statutes of serpents as well as a three-headed dog, Cerberus, to guard the entrance to the underground. What you see today at this site are marble copies in order to give an idea of what it would have looked like at the time. An archway (gateway to the underworld) marked the entrance where cattle were led to be sacrificed by the toxic gases (carbon dioxide). They also built a small theatre for spectators to be able to watch this ritual. To say the least, this is
Stayed At a Lovely Place in Walking Distance
to the sights - we smile at English translations! not something we have ever seen or heard of at any of the other historic ruins we have seen in any country. Definitely unique!
The thermal waters that flowed here in Hieropolis ran through numerous waterways/channels down the hill to other important sites. One is the Temple Nymphaeum which used the water to create a fountain which can be seen in the drawings that were posted near the ruins. Farther down the hill from this were the Roman Baths which again used the thermal waters. The Roman Baths now house the Archeology Museum which was small, but had many of the artifacts found here as well as other nearby ruins. One of the rooms was filled with sarcophagus which we have seen in numerous places before, but the details on many of these were in excellent shape and they had very good signage explaining the meaning of many of them. Another room as mentioned above held the stone friezes that were discovered at the theatre. The signs told of the stories that the friezes depicted of the gods and their feats. The last room in the museum was filled with finds from numerous ruins in this area of Turkey.
They included pottery, jewelry, tools which were well displayed telling of the time period and location that they were from.
One of the draws for people to come here is not only the “cotton castle” that is seen in all the pictures advertising this area, but many come to bath in the Cleopatra Antiquity Pool. We knew we were not planning on bathing in the thermal pool, but we did wander over to get a better look. First, you are informed of all of the curative powers of the waters here and if you wish to enter, you pay an extra entrance fee to enter the waters. We understand that they have lockers and changing rooms here, but we definitely saw many people arriving in just their bathing suits. It is interesting to have these two features combined as you would see many people at the entrance to the site dressed in swimming suits while others were walking in with hiking boots.
We learned that the reason it is called the Cleopatra Pool is the story goes that it is an artificially formed pool that was given by Mark Anthony to Cleopatra. There had been numerous
columns around the pool, but during one of the numerous earthquakes, the columns were destroyed and fell into the water. The bathers now use these ancient columns to sit or lay on while they soak up the curative waters.
These are just a few of the highlights from our wanderings around the ruins of this Spa City. As mentioned, there were many areas that were similar to other ruins that we have walked through, but with the addition of the thermal waters here and the gateway to the underworld, this was definitely a worthwhile visit.
After spending much of the day in the ruins of Hieropolis, it was time to head down to the village before the site closed for the day. The plan was to walk down over the travertine area to the exit. Before doing so, we did take a walk around the top of the site to take in the magnificent views of the mountains surrounding this area and to look out over the “cotton castle” without people walking over it. We had seen numerous photos of it, but it really doesn’t do it justice as you don’t realize how large
an area this encompasses. They have clearly defined areas that are off limits as well as an area that is open for people to walk on. One of the rules is that you must take off your shoes which we did know ahead of time so we brought a towel and backpack for carrying the shoes. We saw people of all ages and sizes doing this so figured we could do it, however, at first it did seem like it might be slippery. We took a step on and found that some of the surface was actually quite rough and painful as it contained small pieces like gravel. Neither of us normally go barefoot so we definitely noticed it! Fortunately, we quickly figured out which of the surfaces were easier on the feet as we had quite a long way to go to get to the exit. We also found that there were definitely areas with lovely warm water, but others that were cooler. As you travel down, you come across a few pools, some you need to partially go through to get around the crowds. Fortunately, most of them are not very deep so it was easy enough to
do. The color of the water in the pools are an amazing blue that unfortunately doesn’t come through as clearly as I wished in the photos, but hopefully you can get an idea.
I know that I have used the travertine quite often when talking about Pamukkale. In looking it up it is described as sedimentary rock that is formed by the calcium carbonate that is found in the thermal waters. As the water has continuously flowed over this area for centuries, the amazing “castle” of travertine have formed. The resulting “stone” has different colors up close as well as texture due to the constant flowing of water.
One thing we found very entertaining was that they had guys carrying loads of “angel wings” around so people could have their photos taken with them on. We didn’t see many taking advantage of this great opportunity, but did see a couple of groups of people that did. We couldn’t figure out why they used angel wings as their gimmick, but after getting back to the boat and reading more, I found that Hieropolis was also known as a Holy City so guess that is where
Gateway to the Underworld
with its extensive buildings honoring Pluto the angel wings come from. We do find in our travels that many times we miss out finding out the details with not knowing the language and many times have to figure it out after the fact when we can look it up. We really do miss being able to have in depth conversations with people in their local language. We do always try to learn some of the basic words which we have done here in Turkey as well, but that doesn’t get you too far when wanting to find out the reasons behind things or an explanation of what you see.
Speaking of language, we do use google translate quite a bit and it really is helpful, however, sometimes even that doesn’t work out the way you think it will. We have found that in some other countries we would type in a question or comment and the person can’t work it out so they tell us by typing in what they see in the translation and we have had a laugh at a few of them.
Here in all the souvenir shops, they have the usual items with pictures of the
travertine area or T-shirts, but we found here they also sell souvenirs in the shape of roosters. We couldn’t figure out why so at the hotel we asked the wait staff at the restaurant and she told us that it was because they have roosters here that never shut up. We had to laugh about that but wished we could have asked a few more questions about this. Again, this one was something I wanted to look up. I found out there are 2 answers. The first I found was that at a nearby archeological site they found a relief of a rooster from 900 years ago and took it to be the symbol of the city. As a result, they have used it as the symbol for the city and province of Denizli. In looking more, I also found that there is an actual type of rooster called the Denizli rooster. One of its distinct characteristics is how long it can crow, mentioning it can be up to 20-25 seconds long. I have no idea what the norm is for a rooster crowing, but from the description it sounded like the Denizli rooster has an especially long one! Now
The Archway to the Underworld & Toxic Gases
with an area for spectators to view the sacrifices thinking back to her answer to us, it makes sense that she said that they never shut up.
With our main purpose of coming to this area being to visit Hieropolis and to see what Pamukkale was all about, we only booked 2 nights here so we are on to the next city for a couple of days. Will save that for the next blog entry.
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Nelson Terwilliger
non-member comment
Always enjoy reading your blogs. Love the history you give for each area and enjoy your personal commentary. I am assuming that by now you are back in the US. Have a wonderful Fall and Winter "rest".