Things to do
6-
Antique Pool
A warm spring-fed pool scattered with fluted marble columns that an earthquake toppled centuries ago, widely known as Cleopatra's Pool. Bathers float over the submerged Roman stone in water that rises from the same source that built the terraces; swimming costs a separate fee from site entry.
-
Hierapolis Archaeology Museum
The site museum of Hierapolis, housed in the restored Roman bath complex, holding sarcophagi, statuary and small finds from the city and the surrounding ancient towns of the Lycus valley.
-
Hierapolis Theatre
A Roman theatre cut into the hillside under Hadrian and rebuilt under Septimius Severus, its stage building still standing with much of its carved marble relief. One of the best preserved ancient theatres in Turkey, looking straight down the plateau of Hierapolis to the valley.
-
Northern Necropolis of Hierapolis
The largest of Hierapolis's burial grounds, stretching along the road north of the city with more than a thousand tombs, from stone tumuli to house tombs and carved sarcophagi, one of the largest ancient cemeteries in Turkey.
-
Pamukkale Travertines
A hillside of white calcium terraces laid down by hot springs over thousands of years, warm mineral water pooling in scalloped basins down the slope. The open section is walked barefoot, shoes banned to protect the stone, and the terraces share a single ticket with the Hierapolis ruins above.
-
Ploutonion at Hierapolis
A shrine to Pluto built over a cave that breathes volcanic carbon dioxide, lethal to the sacrificial animals led in, which the priests of Hierapolis presented as the gate to the underworld. Identified by excavators in 2013 beside the Temple of Apollo, it is viewed today from a platform above the vent.
