Hierapolis-Pamukkale Archaeological Site

Hierapolis lies 18 kilometres north of Denizli, on the terrace above the white travertine pools of Pamukkale. It was founded in the 2nd century BC by Eumenes II, King of Pergamon, and is said to be named after Hiera, the wife of Pergamon's legendary founder Telephos. The city sits in an earthquake zone and was destroyed and rebuilt again and again.

Most of the standing buildings date from after the great earthquake of about AD 60. The city was then rebuilt on a grid plan and took on the look of a typical Roman town, losing its Hellenistic character. Under the Byzantines it became a major centre of Christianity, because the apostle Philip was martyred here around AD 80. In the 4th century an octagonal church, the Martyrium, was built in his honour, and the city earned the title of Metropolis.

A new earthquake ruined the city in the 7th century AD. Today it is a rare place where you can walk past monumental Roman remains and then step out onto the natural terraces of Pamukkale, the two together forming a landscape where water, worship and rebuilding have shaped each other.