A Look Inside Turkey’s Hierapolis-Pamukkale “Cotton Palace”
For more photos and videos from Pamukkale, browse the #Pamukkale hashtag and explore the Pamukkale Traventleri location page.
In Turkey’s southwest province of Denizli, white pools cover the landscape around a tiny cliffside village called Pamukkale, meaning “Cotton Palace” in Turkish. As calcium carbonate deposits flow down from hot springs above, the sediment collects in the lower limestone pools and shapes their snowy appearance. People have bathed in the Hierapolis-Pamukkale pools since 200 BCE when the ancient city of Hierapolis was erected near the top of the terrace to provide proximity to the spring and its restorative benefits. Today, local and visiting Instagrammers alike make the trek to partake in the ancient traditions and share the view of the valley below.