4/9/98: Arrived in Pamukkale at 5:30am, walked to the WeisseBurg Pensione, and were received very warmly because we were referred by Anna and Chengis in Göreme. The name of the pension where we stayed, WeisseBurg, is German for “White Castle,” and is the rough equivalent for the Turkish name “Pamukkale,” which means “Cotton Caslte.” Both names refers to the appearance of the travertines, or various pools, formed by the hot spring water cascading down the hillside from the ancient city of Hierapolis, and depositing calcium and other minerals into these peculiar formations.
4/9/23: We stopped at Pamukkale partly because it was a convenient stop on our way to Ephesus. But also because this part of Asia Minor (modern day Turkey) is dotted with significant sites, such as Colossae, Laodicea, Philadelphia and Hierapolis. We did not have time to visit all of the cities listed on Paul’s journeys or in other New Testament writings, but this one was an easy stop. Because of the hot springs, this area was a spa town at various times as far back as the Roman Empire. The history of Hierapolis spans Greek, Roman, Christian and Ottoman eras, and is well worth a read. When we visited, the ruins looked rather desolate, blocks and pillars just strewn about, as if the 1354AD earthquake had only just leveled the city. Today the archaeological excavations and restorations are much advanced. Check out UNESCO and Wikipedia for detailed info on the history, as well as more current photos.
The hot springs are no longer open to tourists to dip in. We did come across a fenced-in enclosure that was a hot spring reserved for military personnel. Several soldiers were having a barbecue and invited us to join them, but the commanding officers thought better of it, and we had to move on. Back at the pensione I tried to impress some children with my new ability to count in Turkish: “Bir, iki, öch…” I only could count to “three!” So I was shown up rather flamboyantly by a boy of 8 or 9, who rattled off 1 through 100 in English and made it clear he could go all the way up to 1,000 if he wanted to.
