Wednesday, April 8, 2015

Pamukkale

This World Heritage site is the main reason for coming to the Denizli area.


The path to the lower entrance.


I forgot to bring a bag for my shoes so that I could carry them.


The start of the travertine where you are not allowed to wear footwear. It is a shock to feet that are used to wearing shoes.




Notice the water running down the hill. Quickly you discover that the surface is a little kinder to your bare feet where the water is flowing.

It is not slippery.


It is basically formed of deposits of calcium carbonate carried by the water.



It covers a large area.




A fun park at the bottom of the hill.






Close up of the little ridges you walk on.







Looking down on the town.



It looks like they constructed pools to bathe in. Over time the walls became covered with calcium.






Eventually you reach the top and your feet rejoice.

The sign shows a presumed view of the ancient city of Hieropolis that occupied the plateau above the formation.

The city had a population of over 100,000 but was destroyed by an earthquake  a number of times.


The stone pathway us not too bad in bare feet.


They were sweeping the travertine. To what purpose I have no idea.


And why they have a chicken coop up here is totally beyond me.





Magnificent view of the valley and the snow covered mountains.





His job was to stand and look at the view and make sure people stayed off the travertine.




Hieropolis also had an amphitheater but I was not going to walk there in bare feet.




Ruins.






Spring has arrived.






I don't know what these are.







I tried walking on the grass and it felt like plush carpet.



I walked back down the hill and was greeted by this dog that was drinking the water. I wondered at the state of its bowels.


Back into the town and I suspect Hieropolis looked like this at one time.














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