Pamukkale and Aphrodisias Tour from Denizli

White Terraces -Calcium Travertines

The journey from Denizli airport to Pamukkale is 66 km/41 miles one way and will take around 50 minutes. We will pick you up from your Hotel - at Denizli Cardak Airport. Then drive to Pamukkale; during your journey, your local tour guide will give you lots of information about Pamukkale and Hierapolis. Also, your local tour guide will hand you your Pamukkale, Hierapolis, and Turkey Maps to keep throughout your Pamukkale tour.

Pamukkale and Hierapolis are one of the top Famous Turkey Trips. Pamukkale, or 'Cotton Castle' when translated, has been drawing tourists from around the world to its thermal springs for more than 23 centuries. The Turkish name refers to the extraordinary surface of the snow-white cliffs, shaped over millennia by the accumulation of calcium deposited by mineral springs. Legend has it that the Cotton Castle formations are solidified cotton (the area's principal crop) that was left out to dry by giants.

Dripping slowly down a vast mountainside, mineral-rich water foams and collects in bowls that terrace the decline down the mountainside, spilling over petrified cascades of stalactites into milky pools below. These saucer-shaped travertines (or terraces, as they're also called) wind sideways down the powder-white mountain, providing a stunning contrast to the clear blue sky and green plain below. To protect the unique calcite surface, you must traverse the area barefoot.

Although the terrace pools aren't bottomless, you can get fully submerged. If you don't have a bathing suit or towel, you can buy a Turkish Towel, Do not Forget it is a Cotton principal crop. As a nice suvinour, you can take it away to your home.

Cleopatra’s Pool

It would be best if you didn’t leave Pamukkale without having a healing dip in the sacred fountain of Cleopatra’s Pool. A swim in the effervescent waters of Cleopatra’s Pool should be at the top of any Turkey Travel Itinerary. Strewn about the bottom of the crystal-clear Pool is an amazing collection of striated columns and capitals, a striking reminder of Pool’s pedigree.

Cleopatra’s Pool has warm, clear fizzy water that bubbles from the source of the spring. With temperatures of 35C, you can bathe in the natural thermal mud and waters and enjoy the curative effects (both medicinal and beauty) of the water, which had previously benefited the ancient Greek and Roman peoples for centuries. This curative water, with its Thermo mineral and magnesium, calcium, carbon dioxide, sulfide, and bicarbonate, is suitable in many areas as a curative treatment.

The Ancient City of Hierapolis

The nearby ancient Hierapolis and its accompanying museums may be overshadowed by the springs, but they are also fascinating and worth the visit.

After taking a walk along the terraces, we will take a short walk to Hierapolis City, which is also known as ‘Holy City.’ Just outside the main entrance is the Necropolis (Graveyard), containing more than 1200 tombs and sarcophagi of people who wished to have been buried here. It was believed that the proximity of the hot springs and vapor-emitting cracks would ease their journey into the Underworld.

Among the tombs lies the Martyrium, which is an octagonal 5th-century edifice believed to have been erected upon the site where St. Philip was martyred in 80 CE. The Hierapolis City Bath, the springs of Hierapolis, was particularly popular among vacationing Romans. You will notice that carved into the side of the mountain is the monstrous Grand Theater that dominates the vista of Hierapolis.

At its height, the Grand Theatre could host 25.000 boisterous fans and is still largely intact until this day. It features a vast network of decorative elements from the 3rd century CE, including a selection of ornately sculptured statues, columns, and arches, amongst other decretive elements. The Next stop is Red Spring. It will take about 7 minutes.

Red Spring (karahayit)

Karahayit (Red Spring) heals its visitors with the famous red water. Your guide will explain in detail the properties, benefits, and diseases of the waters in the hot springs. You can extend your tour and stay in the spa hotels here. Red Water emerges from its source at 60 ºC with its distinctive red color in different seasons of each year. In addition to the thermal water, whose temperature values ​​​​are constantly the same, it produces thermal mud. Red Water contains very rich minerals, so it is a unique source of healing.

Green, white and red-colored travertine layers have been formed due to the mineral oxides in this hot water. The carbon dioxide rate in Red Water is also very low. Karahayit has travertines just like Pamukkale Travertines. However, do not expect a cotton-white look here. You will see red travertines here with the effect of red water. Of course, there is no unique view like Pamukkale, but a different view awaits visitors. The most important feature of red water is that it contains hypotonic and hypothermal mineral waters.

It is known that it is good for circulatory system disorders in humans, and this information has been proven as a result of research. It is generally known to benefit blood pressure, diabetes, brain, gall bladder, heart, asthma, and liver diseases. Our next stop is Aphrodisias. It will take one and a half hours to drive.