Things to do
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Antique Pool
The swim costs extra on top of site entry and the submerged columns fill up by late morning, so buy the pool ticket first thing; bring a towel, the changing rooms are basic.
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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.
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Hierapolis Theatre
Leave it for the top of the site and climb to the upper rows for the sweep back over the valley; the marble steps are uneven and there is no shade, so go early or late rather than at midday.
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Kaklık Cave
A sinkhole cave half an hour east of Denizli that does underground what Pamukkale does in the open: warm, mineral-heavy water laying down white travertine basins beneath a rock roof. Walkways circle the pools, and the sulphur on the air is part of the visit.
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Laodicea on the Lycus
A Hellenistic and Roman city ten minutes south of Pamukkale, one of the Seven Churches of Revelation, with two theatres, a stadium and colonnaded streets under active excavation. Far quieter than Hierapolis, and the view across the valley ends at the white hill.
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Northern Necropolis of Hierapolis
The largest necropolis in Anatolia and the emptiest part of the site; walk it in the morning from the north gate so the light is behind you and the tomb road is still cool.
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Pamukkale Travertines
Come in the last hours before closing, when the terraces turn gold and the coach parties have gone; shoes come off at the barrier and the wet calcite stays slippery the whole way up.
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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.
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Karahayıt Red Springs
A village five kilometres north of the travertines where the spring water surfaces iron-rich and much hotter, staining its small terraces red and ochre instead of white. The source pool steams at over 50 degrees, thermal hotels ring the village, and it stays lively in the evening after the main site empties.
