Pamukkale, Turkey EarthCache

Pamukkale

Known as Pamukkale (pronounced pah-mook-kah-leh) (Cotton Castle) or ancient Hierapolis (Holy City). The Ancient City of Hierapolis gained popularity when its calcium springs were discovered by the Romans to have curative properties. The Romans presented the city as a gift to the King of Pergamon, Eumenes II, which he named Hierapolis, in honor of Hiera, the wife of the founder of the Pergamene Dynasty, Telesphorus. The ancient city was located on the top of the hill near the white terraces at the beginning of the 2nd century BC and is about 2700 meters long and 160m high. It can be seen from the hills on the opposite side of the valley. It has 14000 year-old existence. Severe earthquakes destroyed the city in 133 BC, and again in 60 AD. Following the latter, Hierapolis was rebuilt by the Romans. Another earthquake in the early 7th century caused significant damage but the city was only abandoned for good after the earthquake of 1354. What remains is predominantly the ruins of the Roman city. The white cotton-like terraces are mineral deposits which come from Cal Mountain’s rich spring waters and volcanic springs that were saved since thousand years. The water runs down the travertine and fill them up with water and there is a pool where you can have a chance to swim among the ancient Roman columns. Pamukkale is one of Turkey’s incomparable natural wonder with the calcium cascade terraces of snow white stalactites and is known as 8th wonder of the World by Turkish people.Together with the ruins of Hierapolis, Pamukkale is now a protected UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1988. Before the designation, the terraces were in danger of being destroyed through a combination of neglect and commercial development. Hotels were built at the top of the site, partly obscuring ruins of Hierapolis , and wear and tear from the feet and shoes of visitors had scarred and turned many of the pools brown. Efforts to protect the delicate natural phenomenon have dramatically changed the area. Hotels have been demolished, and in an effort to allow the pools natural white appearance to be maintained, access to the pools is tightly restricted, and water released from the spring is controlled and only distributed to a few pools at a time. Artificial pools for bathing tourists have been added. To keep the travertine white and to prevent crush and damage on them, in 1997 it was forbidden to walk on them and the water is allowed to reach the terraces periodically according to weekly watering schedule. But it is possible to walk on the south part of the travertine with naked foot. Although natural phenomenon like this is exceedingly rare, a similar but smaller set of travertine pools exist in Huanglong, China. Sadly, another site beloved by Victorian settlers in New Zealand was destroyed by a volcanic eruption in 1886.

Pamukkale Legend

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