After that ,....one night in Istanbul then a late night flight back home ( leaving 2am) arriving home at midday.Just a 10 hour flight😀
So,........Hierapolis......we'd been here before and I remember being fascinated strolling through the amazing ruins of this ancient roman city.
Originally established around 200 BC it's located immediately adjacent to the (present) village of Pamukkale,a terraced fairyland of chrystalised calcium resembling a white wedding cake with pools of mineral water.
Most tourists come for the day and kinda skim over the city in an hour or so,then make straight for the wedding cake.So that leaves a pretty quiet site ranging over a distance of some 4 km ,to explore and "imagine" at will.
Our hotel gave us a free ride up to the top gate which leads 1st to the incredibly well restored amphitheatre overlooking the plains and farmland way below.This stadium still has awesome acoustics and was used by the 100 000 population to host public events,theatre and gladiator fights.
Then a slog up to St.Philip's (the apostle) church and elaborate tomb built after his martyrdom and bearing many signs of the reigning Christianity of the time ( the Greeks ruled this vicinity prior to the Romans)
Greek architecture blends here with Roman and Byzantine buildings indicating that these parts were not always a part of Turkey.
In fact the same applies all over the place here in Turkey where Ephesus,once a major Roman capital in the east and Greek prior to that,is surrounded by St.Johns basilica and the place where the Virgin Mary and John the apostle lived till their earthly demise.
Of course the Ottomans,who ruled most of the then "known world" conquered these places and have been here ever since.
We then walked down to the main "drag" containing baths,latrines,fountains and the like,where one really can get lost in the past.
Spent a good four hours immersing ourselves in antiquity😅Hot as hell by the time we had walked back to our hotel for a nice cold beer 😁
Well worth the effort !!!
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