The following and shortened description of Pamukkale and Hierapolis is from the tourist guide written by the Turkish archaeologist Ilhan Aksit.

Pamukkale:

This place, entirely covered by travertine resembling a castle, to which it owes its name (cotton castle), is at a distance of 18 km to the east of Denizli. This marvel of nature, which gives the impression of heaped cotton, where history has left its marks, reveals itself in this ancient village called Hierapolis.

A road forks before arriving in Denizli and leads us through greenery directly to Pamukkale. The whiteness, which appears to resemble clouds from afar, takes shape as they are approached creating a fairy world of whiteness.

One may climb the ruins with greatest delight to the accompaniment of the singing streams forming basins on both sides of the climb. And when one turns and takes a look behind, one sees a paradisecal beauty deploying at ones feet. The play of colors during the sunset at Pamukkale is a real phenomenon of nature!

The Formation:

The Menderes valley in the Aegean region is a long break. That is why hot springs are encountered every now and then. The spring waters contain limestone substances and an abundance of carbon dioxide. These clear waters at 35 degrees Celsius flow, spreading calcium residues and emitting carbon dioxide. The rocks on which they flow whiten as the waters leave their residues behind. This white plain is in the Curuksu Valley.

This river, which was named Lycos in ancient times, passes through the cotton plains and joins the Menderes river delineating the western frontier of this plain. At the southern confines rises the mountain Babadag. To the southeast we see the mountain Honoz of a height of 2751 m, which was called in history "Mount Cadmos".

Pamukkale, where roads coming from Tralles, and taking the direction towards the Mediterranean sea, and Sardes intersected, experienced a number of earthquakes in history, which occurred during the reigns of Neron, Antonius Pius, Alexander the Great and Septimus Severus, and which destroyed the city. These disasters of nature may have changed the courses of the streams bringing along carbon dioxide as a potential danger. For instance, the "Djinn hole", under the Temple of Apollo, is one of the places where one can observe the existence of this effect. As a matter of fact, the birds flying in fall dead. In history the priests benefited from the clean air available at certain places to penetrate, accompanied by animals, and came out unaffected with a triumphant air.

Pamukkale, caressed by a breeze at all times, is today a center where people come seeking a remedy for their ills. Even emperors came here for the same purpose. These waters are used in treatment of cardiovascular disorders, atherosclerosis, blood pressure anomalies, nervous disorders, skin eruptions, diseases of the eye, rachitism, strokes, and disorders of the digestive systems.

According to a legend, a maiden, whose beauty was far from being laudable, and unable to find a suitor, made up her mind to put an end to her days and let herself fall from the precipice. But the waters in the basin took her in their lap safe and sound. The miracle happened, the waters touching her, rejuvenated and added beauty to her complexion, which fact did not go unnoticed by the son of the prince, who was passing by, and who took her along to his father and married her.

This is not merely legendary, since the said waters are truly beneficial and have the property of rejuvenating the human skin.

The spring waters of Karahayit are at a distance of 5 km from Pamukkale. The water in Karahayit comes from three different streams, which don't have as high a carbon dioxide content. The whiteness of the water of Pamukkale yields their place here to reddish hues. The radioactivity of the waters of Karahayit of 60 degrees Celsius is about 2-4 eman.

The history:

Hierapolis, is understood to have been founded by Eumenes II, king of Pergamum. The city owes its name to the wife of Telephos, legendary founder of Pergamum. According to other sources the city owes the name "Hiera" (which is believed to have meant sacred city) because of the religious events which took place here. An inscription, which was the text of an edit about the city, and which Eumenes had dictated in honor of his mother has an interesting tale to tell.

The city was founded around a subterranean cavern, where a religious center developed beginning with the Hellenistic age and became an important place. When Attalos, king of Pergamum, yielded his territory to Rome in 133 BC the city was subordinated to the Asian province. According to Plinus it must have been incorporated into the region under the domination of Cibyra. The city was destroyed by earthquakes, which occurred during the reigns of Tiberius in 17 AD and Neron in 69 AD. Hierapolis, which led a peaceful life in the 2nd century, lived in economic prosperity. The emperor Hadrian affranchised the city from "aurum coronarium" and recognized the right to take refuge in there. The city lived through hard times during the second half of the 2nd century because of the plaque. It was restored under Antoninus and Severius. The importance of the city increased because of the Temple erected to Saint Philippe, who was crucified here in 80 AD, and the city became the seat of a metropolis. The city continued to flourish during the Byzantine Period. Constantine the Great made it the capital of Phrygia. However, its decline started as of the 12th century. Hierapolis became the site of excavations for the first time in 1887 under the administration of C. Humann, and then in 1957 by an Italian committee headed by Prof. Paolo Verzone. The excavations are still continuing. The artifacts found are exhibited in the two halls of a Roman pool used now as a museum. The statues made under the influence of the School of Sculpture of Aphrodisias are exhibited.

The city was built on a platform at an altitude of 376 m from the sea level, and was conceived within the scope of a Hippodamos plan, of which illustrative examples may be seen at Priene and Miletos. This platform resting on blocks of limestone rocks measuring 1000 x 800 m and which rises to 70 m from the plain, presents an exquisite beauty. The city is rectangular and is divided by identical streets into blocks of houses, which are also rectangular in shape. Each street comprises to houses measuring 29.60 by 70 m. The streets must have been reserved for pedestrians as no trace of any cart wheels have been encountered. All the streets directed from north towards the south crossed the city and the most important among them was Plateia at a length of 13 m. It was probably lined with a colonnade. The city was destroyed by an earthquake in 60 AD, and was partially rebuilt by Neron. The Temple of Apollo and the Theater in the center of the city was entirely restored. Two new quarters to the north and the south of the city were also added; these, joined with the axis of Plateia, established the communications by means of two portals. We know that the soffits of the north gate was flanked by two towers. Those soffits were surmounted by an architectural element with columns of which nothing remains today.

Water came to Hierapolis by two aqueducts along the slope of the hills behind the city. These aqueducts, which ran between Pamukkale and Karahayit towards the east of the city, can be seen today. The water system constructed on a hill to the east of town converged at a tank, where brick drain pipes transported the water into the city. Three pipes conveyed the water to each dwelling as well. There was also another drainage system, where the waste water gathered; this was covered by large rocks.

The graveyards were located outside the city. These graveyards contained tombs of travertine. The marble, which was either of local origin or transported from the surrounding region, was used only in the fabrication of sarcophagi, of which there are a good many specimens. The region to the northeast and in the confines of the city must have been the first burial ground. The limit of the region, reserved to the deaths in the confines of the city in 1st century, is comprised within the city itself.

The funerary monument dating from the times of Julius Claudius, dedicated to an important person, remained intact because of the respect due to him. This monumental tomb, which is in the necropolis of Hierapolis, resembling a sanctuary, is a typical example of an edicule. Some had columns in line on an elevated footing on which rested the sarcophagus like the ones at Mylasa, Iasos and Termessos. Only a few vestiges remain. The inside of the tomb, which looked like the interior of Heroon, consisted of a rectangular chamber surrounded on four sides by seats, in rows of seats, in the shape of a triclinius. The entry into the tomb's section is through a vestibule linked with a decorated structure with engravings. The door has a panel fixed with hinges. The family tombs are in general surrounded by a small garden, while other tombs have been added at a later date. To the east of the region with the Hellenistic city stretching out, dating from the times of Domitianus, is a poormen's graveyard.

Tumuli like those in Anatolia and Thrace can be found in Hierapolis. These had been made heaping up earth on a rectangular vaulted chamber. Inside the chamber are three funeral couches. A dramos provides entry to the chamber. The type of tomb with edicule and fronton date rather from 1st century. In 2nd and 3rd centuries the footings, on which rested the sarcophagi, were made more conspicuous with a view to transforming the dead into heroes. The sarcophagus was for the one contained in it.

In the epitaphs the biography of the deceased has been given no large room in comparison with those of other sites. The names and the relationship of the buried are clearly inscribed, while poetical expressions are very rare. Some among them also mention the profession of the buried. In the northern necropolis are sarcophagi bearing epitaphs of round tumuli, and quadrangular tombs of stone resembling houses. The number of tombs is above one thousand. Tombs dating from Hellenistic and Roman periods were sacked.