DC Girl on the Go

Pamukkale, meaning “cotton castle” in Turkish, is one of the most unique Unesco World Heritage Sites I’ve seen. From a distance, it looked like ski slope. The city is full of hot springs and travertines, or terraces of carbonate materials left by flowing water that give the landscape its snowy appearance.

At the top of the hill we started on our tour among ruins then it opened up to the white part of the mountain with blue thermal pools naturally terracing the hillside. To walk on the travertine sediment everyone was required to take off their shoes. The terrain was rocky at first then it turned smooth with grooves from the ebb and flow of the water. It wasn’t slippery either, there was a fair amount of traction.

The circular terraced pools were about 20 feet in length, the water came up about mid-calf height, and the bottom was sandy. Alongside the terrace slope there was a 3 foot wide stream of running thermal water down the mountainside. Visitors have the option to continue to the bottom but we decided to stop midway and head to a cafe at the Antique Pool for lunch. 

When my sis and I ordered our food, the guys behind the counter asked if we were sisters. Everyone who asked us this question while we were abroad was delighted and tickled when they found out we were sisters. That was new for me. The sister thing wasn’t quite as enthusiastically received when we traveled to France just a few months prior haha. We ate out on the patio and by and by we were surrounded by 7 cats! They were all over Turkey, but it was hilarious because they were at our feet staring at us, meowing, and even climbing on the table to get our food.

After lunch we climbed a steep gravel road to the enormous amphitheater overlooking the ruins of ancient Hierapolis. We had an incredible view of a snow-capped mountain to our left (yes, it snowed while we were there), the far off mountains straight ahead, and the extensive collection of ruins to the right. After walking down, we came upon large ruins of arches, columns, foundations, walls… the fact that they were unearthed and pretty in tact was astounding. You could really visualize what the place would have looked like all those years ago! Toward the end of the 1.5 + mile walk through Hierapolis, was a humongous cemetery with marble statues, mausoleums, open tombs, and marble coffins with Greek writings still visible etched in the stone.

Pammukale had a great mix of natural and man-made wonders well worth the visit!

Our first stop was the House of the Virgin Mary up the mountain from Ephesus. Legend has it that after Jesus’ death, Mary fled to Ephesus to live out the rest of her days in refuge. Her house was in a beautiful woods high in the mountain with an enormous tree canopy covering the oasis. I felt like Frodo laying eyes on Rivendell for the first time- it had an eerie feeling of calm and tranquility.  The house was a two room stone building and people were required to be silent and have appropriate dress to go in. There wasn’t much to the house other than a small pew to pray, different gifts bestowed by the most recent popes on display, and a small statue of Mary without hands (they were gold so they were stolen). We exited the house and continued to a row of fountains in a brick façade containing cold “holy water.” Past that was a large brick wall with hundreds of knotted white cloths/materials with writing. According to Pagan legend, if you hang a white knotted material and you make a wish and it comes true, you have to return.

Down the hill was one of the 4 most important cities in ancient Rome, Ephesus (it was the New York City of the ancient world). There are a few stories of how Ephesus came into existence. The first was that a guy had a dream he was chasing a boar and where he killed it, he had to found a city. The second story is that the Amazons started the town and the prettiest/most skilled one (Ephesia) had the town named after her.

The amount of ruins still intact was astounding- the Roman Forum can’t even compare. We started at the top of the hill and saw the agora (forum) and an indoor theater where government and citizenship activities took place. The path led us down the hill where we had the most amazing view of a street lined with columns and a view of the library peeking over top.  Our guide pointed out that there were holes in the walkway because it was the 2^nd city in the world to have illuminated streets. Ephesus was so boojee!

We also saw their toilets, which as funny as it is to admit, was really cool to see. A large stone slab ran the entire length of a room with running water underneath. The toilets were positioned side by side, and in the winter, servants would warm the toilets before their masters sat. Our guide also said that a lot of deals went down in there because everyone sat side by side and the running water covered up secret conversations.

On the walk down the marble street we saw assorted Greek tablets, a street sign (large slab of marble with depictions ie. snake for hospital, Hermes and sheep for the trade route), and the first condos in the world for the rich people. They even had central heating with hot water flowing through pipes in the winter months. Down a bit was the Heracles Gate, the tall two story façade of the library (3^rd largest in the ancient world), a huge amphitheater that seats 25,000, and a large market a few football fields in length. Here’s a fun little fact- the amphitheater got partially ruined a few years ago from a Sting concert due to the too strong decibel level.

We then went a few miles down the road and saw the ruins of St. John’s Basilica (built by Justinian). The light of the afternoon sun was perfect against the ruins and a lot of the stone work was still intact. In the nave nearby, a large marker denoted where St. John is said to be buried. Down the side of the hill was mosque where we could see in the courtyard and just beyond that were the ruins of an old Turkish bath. Also below was a single pillar that used to be the Temple of Artemis, one of the 7 wonders of the ancient world! The view from the Basilica was one of the most memorable from the trip.