Pamukkale Turkey
Pamukkale is an area of white travertine terraces because of mineral rich water and thermal springs. Above it lies the site of Hieropolis.
Hieropolis is one of about 19 Greek and then Roman cities surrounding the lycus valley (which included a large lake in antiquity). Hieropolis is mentioned in Colossians 4:13. These cities included Colossi ( the book of Colossians) and Laodicea.
Hieropolis was founded as a Greek city by the Seleucids in the 3rd century BC. We visited the ancient theater, the necropolis (graveyard of epic proportions used from the 2nd century BC to the 3rd century AD) and the tomb of Saint Phillip and associated church which has Christian symbols on the arches and many small rooms at the perimeters for the days when religious pilgrims stopped there to honor the martyrdom of Phillip.
It is interesting to look at the infrastructure, particularly how they managed fresh water and how they developed a sewer system under the streets. Seeing all of the Greek and Roman structures dedicated to gods and goddesses impresses on us how challenging it must have been to have been the first Christians in this area.
After hiking and climbing around Hieropolis we dipped our toes in the mineral waters of Pamukkale.
