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From a distance, Pamukkale looks every bit like a ski resort, with a cascade of brilliant white slopes and a scattering of tourists at the top, seemingly preparing to slalom down into the valley below.
So why isn’t it melting away as midsummer temperatures nudge toward 100 Fahrenheit, or 37 Celsius, and the heat hangs in the shimmering air?
Because this unusual and beautiful wonder, located deep in the sunkissed hills of southwestern Turkey, isn’t snow at all. In fact the water it’s formed from sometimes spurts out of the ground at boiling point.
And those visitors milling around its upper reaches aren’t going anywhere fast. Most are here to take in the extraordinary spectacle – and either paddle or soak in some of the planet’s most photogenic pools.
Today, Pamukkale’s travertine limestone slopes and pools, filled with milky blue mineral water, are perfect for Instagram moments, especially as the magic hour evening sun casts their rippled surfaces in hues of pink.
Gateway to Hell
But this place was a tourist sensation thousands of years before social media, as first Greeks, then Romans flocked here for the thermal waters and to pay tribute at what was revered as a gateway to Hell.
Today, Pamukkale and the ancient city of Hierapolis, which sprawls across the plateau above the white terraces, are part of a UNESCO World Heritage site that pulls in coachloads of visitors. Typically, many visit for a couple of hours, but it’s worth spending at least a day in this geological and historical playground.
Enter from the South Gate – tickets cost 30 euros (about $33) – and it’s easy to be initially underwhelmed. There’s not much to see right away apart from a few toppled ancient columns, which are a frequent sight around this part of Turkey.
In truth, the site of Hierapolis and Pamukkale is huge, so it takes a while to reach the good stuff (golf buggies can be rented for those really pressed for time or unable to walk the distances here). But it also means that the big reveal, when it comes, is even better.
After 10 minutes of strolling along paved pathways from the gate, the line of trees that marks the edge of the plateau comes into sight. Even if you know what’s coming, there’s still a wow factor when you finally reach it, and the spectacle of that white landscape is revealed.
Over millennia, the calcite deposited by the thermal water sputtering out of the ground has reshaped this hillside, creating white terraces that give the area its name - Pamukkale means cotton castle in Turkish.
These terraces once held myriad naturally formed blue pools. Most of these are now empty of water and off limits, leading to some complaints that the site no longer lives up to photographs that show it in years gone by.
“It is pretty, but there’s not as much water as I’d expected,” says Mary Huang, a tourist from Guangzhou in southern China, posing for a photograph on the edge of one of the pools. “The view is gorgeous though.”
Serene pools
There’s still an impressive series of serene pools, which cascade down the hill. It’s a fun spot for paddling or lying down in shallow waters and mud said to have therapeutic properties.
To explore the terraces, visitors need to remove their footwear. The rock is uncomfortable and slippery in places, but it doesn’t take long to reach the first in the series of pools where toes sink into soft sediment.
The top terraces are the busiest, but for those willing to make their way further down, there’s every chance of grabbing a pool to themselves.
DJ Tiz, a South Korean music producer on a road trip across Turkey with his partner, singer Fre Naz, is among those slapping mud all over, under the watchful eye of an amicable dog. Having already sampled plenty of the country’s stunning landscapes, he declares: “I love Pamukkale the best.”
For a more complete spa experience, there’s the Antique Pool, about five minutes’ walk from the top of the terraces. Here, for a small extra fee, visitors can use changing rooms and bathe and swim in crystal clear thermal waters over the toppled ruins of an ancient temple to Apollo.
Better still, as you near the source of the water, in one corner of the pool, it becomes filled with tiny, fizzing bubbles – it’s like swimming in warm Champagne or soda. The water is said to offer relief to skin, cardiovascular and rheumatic complaints. Drinking from a water pump here is also said to work for digestive conditions.
Noxious fumes
You can spend hours wandering around the remains of Hierapolis – high spots include the wide 2nd century agora marketplace, the magnificent Roman theater and the tombs of the necropolis.
The size of the site reveals the city’s one-time power and popularity (it even rates a namecheck in the Bible alongside another nearby ruined city, Laodicea, which is also worth a visit). Much of Hierapolis’ status was derived from the geothermal forces lurking beneath its surface.
While many of the Romans and Greeks who came to the city were undoubtedly here for the warm waters, the place had great religious significance as the site of a Plutonium cave, or entrance to Hell.
View this interactive content on CNN.comHere, much to the amazement of onlookers, sacrificial animals such as bulls would drop dead after breathing in noxious carbon dioxide fumes swirling up from below. The priests, who led them in would emerge unscathed, having learned to hold their breath.
Today, the Plutonium - sited between the Ancient Pool and the Roman theater - is another high point on the tour of Hierapolis, and one of many places in the city worth visiting in the cooler evenings when, after nightfall, some attractions are dramatically illuminated.
While Pamukkale is enjoying more modern fame thanks to its photogenic appearance in social media posts, some locals lament the changing nature of tourism to the area.
Steam city
Ali Durmuş, who runs Pamukkale-based tour company Turkey Magic Travel, says the roping off of much of the travertines and diversion of water since it became a UNESCO World Heritage site has robbed visitors of an experience enjoyed for millennia. He says it puts them off staying longer.
Pammukale’s UNESCO-listing led to on-site hotels being demolished, new pools constructed, water redirected down manmade channels, improved site management and closure of the slopes to reverse degradation that had changed them from white to gray.
“If they cannot enjoy the water, then they are not staying long. Maybe one night or just visiting for an afternoon,” Durmuş says.
He worries that the diminished experience has meant people miss out on exploring the surrounding area, which has other geothermal attractions. Towns stretching out northwest from Pamukkale along a geological fault line tap into increasingly hotter supplies of steam and water surging up from underground.
About 20 minutes’ drive northwest up the surrounding Denizli Basin, the town of Karahayit has spas and heating systems based around the iron-rich red waters that emerge at around 50 Celsius (122 Fahrenheit). The town also has a lovely covered market, with street vendors selling delicious local mulberry juice.
Further away, in Buharkent – its name meaning steam city - water at boiling point powers what was Turkey’s first geothermal power station.
In winter, it has been known to sometimes get chilly enough to snow in Pamukkale, but thanks to the primal forces that thrust up from its hellish subterranean portals and paint the hillsides white, it’s always a hot destination.