The presence of a hot spring at Hierapolis and the spectacular calcium deposits from its water spilling over the nearby hillside suggest that there should be evidence of an early settlement there. The oldest Inscription found so far, however, indicates it was founded by Eumenes II, king of Pergamon, in the latter part of the second century B.C.; it soon became a busy industrial center.
Pagan worship in the city centered around Cybele, Apollo, Artemis, Men, Poseidon, and Pluto. Underneath the Temple of Apollo has been found the Plutonium, an opening in the earth from which a noxious gas still comes. The temple is between the pool where the hot spring rises and the large theater on the side of the hill. To the north along the rim of the plateau is a long avenue of tombs.
Traditionally St. Philip is connected with the early church in Hierapolis. Fairly recently Italian archeologlsts have discovered his Martyrium, an octagonal chamber forming a double cross surrounded by a square. This is almost due north of the theater, also on the side of the hill. It was a fifth century A.D. building and did not last much more than 100 years. No tomb was found with it although that was expected. There are several ruins of churches, one not far from the baths, one on the main road leading to the necropolis.
Hierapolis is listed in the New Testament along with Laodicea as the center of Epaphras’s work (Colos-sians 4:13). This was at the time Paul was writing to strengthen the message Epaphras was preaching and to condemn the “people who go in for self-mortification and angel-worship” (Colossians 2:18). Another less well-known resident of Hierapolis was Papias, a disciple of St. John and the author of the lost book called the Sayings of Jesus.
While Epaphras was is that area, a young slave was growing up in Hierapolis, a boy whose original name is unknown but whom we call by the Greek for “Acquired”, Epictetus. In his Discourses Epictetus often talks about the perfect missionary whose bed was the ground, whose only house the earth and sky and a shabby cloak, and who must love those who misuse him in the service of God. One wonders what the influence of those early Christians, many of whom were slaves themselves, was on this Stoic philosopher.
Hierapolis,
This is just something unbelievable as your car or bus approaches the site. A perfectly white mountain among pretty casual mountain view. Make sure to take a bath in "Cleopatra's pool". Especially in it's distant corner. Feels like swimming in sparkling mineral water:)
We took the bus from Kusadasi and it was a long way but we loved visiting Pamukkale! It is like nothing else and very refreshing. It was a great day and worth the travel time.
Begin at Hierapolis and then walk down the travertines from above. The ruins were especially interesting because we had our own guide to explain what we were seeing.
It was different, something new! To swim in the mountains with an amazing view around you and the warm water was incredibly. It was also nice to see the Hierapolis and hear the history behind it. It was warm when I was there but I quickly cooled down in the water! It was the place I enjoyed the most!
If you go there from Antalya it takes more or less 4.5 hours by car. It is higly recommended to visit. Hierapolis – 45-min walk, the biggest necropoli in Asia, examples of Roman and Greek architecture. Pamukkale – hmmmm just great. take a walk around the hill, swim in the swimming pool – esp winter time.
A must-see! It's my second time visiting the place and you can see it's drying out so you must visit it if you're in Antalya
I visited in March and it was a bit crowded, not unbearable by any means, but enough that I'd dread visiting in the summer tourist season. The crowds were the only problem though, and they weren't that bad, everything else was amazing.
The ruins of Hierapolis are very well preserved and interesting, some of the best we saw in Turkey….
If in the area, must see sight. It was raining when we visited though it did not deminish the enthusiasm.
Many fellow travelers went into the terrance and reported back that they were kinda slimmy.
Should have written this review when memory was fresh — and more comments could be offered.
Hierapolis was a total surprise, booked as part of a two day package from Bodrum we visited Ephesus then onto Pamukkale.
There was no mention of the city in the trip dossier, it's location and the splendour of the buildings in this quiet, serene and beautiful place were a wonderful surprise. Most tour guides stopped at the cafe and warm…
I went to Hierapolis with very minimum knowledge about the Romans ruins. I took out a tour which turned out consisted mostly of matured couples and small family but it turned out very interesting since the fellow tourist have many questions to ask so I get to know more and the tourguide waited patiently (we have about 80 y.o. grandma…