Pamukkale is a town known for its thermal waters and Greek and Roman ruins. The Romans, who we all know loved to bathe, set themselves up here after they turfed the Greeks about 400 years before the birth of Christ. Of course, having the hot spring waters, which contain countless minerals capable of curing every affliction from dandruff to the loss of a leg, they set up a huge city. As luck would have it, a couple of huge earthquakes eventually flattened the place. More about those things later.
Our accommodation at Pamukkale is quite nice. The hotel is enormous and rooms are comfortable. Importantly, the pool is sensational and they have a wonderful bar right next to it....they also have a wonderful bar inside the hotel. Apparently, they also had another bar, somewhere else in the hotel, that I'm sure would have been wonderful too, but we never found it! The hotel had a thermal pool inside and several natural thermal pools outside, all at differing temperatures, to boot. Most of the hotels around here have fitted a thermal pool in somewhere.
Our first morning here was an early start to travel to Ephesus. Ephesus of course was a harbour, and the end of the old Silk Road, where goods from China, and those traded all along on the way from China, were shipped to the rest of the known world. I guess it was the spot that began to make the world a smaller place? The locals call the place 'Efes' (after the beer I suspect). Now, the harbour has long silted up, and they have diverted the river that used to flow into the harbour as well. But the place is right on the magnificent Agean Sea and looks amazing.
We were firstly taken to the top of a high mountain overlooking Ephesus. Here we were shown the house where it was believed Mother Mary lived out her last years, after having been taken there by Saint Mark. Apparently the New Testament refers to Mary being taken to Ephesus. I hope he took her there by horse and cart, or by a donkey, because it's a bloody long way up there! And who brought her shopping up each week? Anyway, the way they discovered the house was that a German nun in about 1880 had a dream and described the location. Some fit Monks walked up the Mountain and found the place as described. Presto, another Holy place with souvenir shops and an entry fee. Anyway, it is a house that is believed to be at least two thousand years old and the surrounds are very nice. Pope Thingy (the one before Pope Paul VI??) visited here in 1962 and said it was holy, so there. They have a 'Holy Wall' where you can write out messages to Mother Mary on pieces of paper and attach them to the wall. Sadly, they don't provide paper, so you use whatever you may have. Toilet paper appears popular, as do Burger King dockets.......perhaps they should provide paper?
The ruins at Ephesus are quite spectacular and provide a great indication as to the importance the city once held. At its peak, it was the most important Roman city outside of Rome. This was where the Roman Empire was made wealthy. The entire city is made of marble, which was lthe local stone. Even all the roads and paths. And everyone and everything was taxed. Even the use of the urinals! In Europe, some things never change, they still charge! And it's called a pis tax! They had a colossal sized library, which contained scrolls from all over the known world. They discovered a tunnel from the library that went to the brothel across the road. Seems not everyone who went to the library was there to study! All was destroyed in 700AD by an earthquake. Some 250,000 either died or moved on.
Our tour guide was an interesting bloke. He was raised in the Muslim faith, but he held what he described as 'liberal' views. He no longer practiced, as he believed most only practiced to ensure employment. He said most he knew did not practice the five prayer sessions a day, or adhere to the strict requirements of Ramadan, but said they did to keep solid with employers etc. In fact, he told us cheekily that the afternoon 'Call to the Prayer' to him was the "Call for another two Efes"....Good point, back to the hotel for a swim and a couple of beers!
PAMUKKALE
Today we went on a tour of the Roma site at Pamukkale. As I said, this city was set up by the Romans because of the hot springs. However, here the stone is the local limestone, and smaller than Ephesus. Saint Philip was crucified in this city as he attempted to spread the word of Christianity. A large octagonal Tomb to his martyrdom was built in the 4th century after the Romans were converted.
The amphitheatre here is one of the best ones we've seen. Although smaller than the one we saw at Ephesus, or the one we saw in Taormina (see Sicily blog), this one still held some 25,000 people and has been restored extremely well. As with each of these amphitheatres, they were used for the entertainment of all city residents. And the entertainment could have been poetry recitals one day, gladiator fights another, a Christian execution or two or a stoning (local boy today, first offence).
The city of Pamukkale had a population of about 100,000. But the cemetery goes on for miles and miles. Seems every sick person would make their way there to take in the magical healing Spring waters....and judging by the size of the cemetery, would promptly die there!
We then visited the amazing Pamukkale Travertenes. As the hot spring waters bubble out of the top of the mountain, it deposits a high concentration of calcium carbonate on the surface. This builds up to leave a bright white layer behind. These form shallow pools of hot, bright blue water on top of the shining white base. Other areas of run off form long waterfall crystals, similar to limestone caves or ice flows. Amazing! Our photos don't do justice to the sight.
After walking for some serious time, in 38 degree heat, it was time to visit the 'Pool of Cleopatra. The story goes that Cleopatra used water from Pamukkale and believed she looked more beautiful, and so visited the city and frolicked in the waters, and when she emerged, she looked years younger. I believe the Ponds Institute is located nearby?? Anyway, we swam in the crystal clear hot waters, which contain old Roman ruins. The pool goes from being two foot deep in places to forty feet deep. But you get to swim over Ancient Roman columns and broken statues, laying where they fell after that massive earthquake in 700AD. Incredible! And again, some 100,000 residents either died or moved on....Did I mention it hit 40 degrees today? Back to the hotel pool and some well earned Efes!
No comments:
Post a Comment