Pamukkale

A mountain of white glows in the dying light of day.  A full moon rises over this glacier that is not of snow and ice, but of solid rock deposited by cascades of water laden with calcite.   

Rising several hundred feet above the plateau below, terraces of the milky white stone embrace azure blue pools of water.  Rivulets of water warmed by thermal vents gurgle from the earth and  constantly renew this glacier.  Shifting patterns of water flow, now aided by UNESCO, fill some pools while others lay dry.  Water pours over soft edged terraced pools to another pool below.  At the bottom, the water collects in a small lake to make a home for ducks, geese and paddle boats.

The ancient Greeks and Romans bathed in the warm blue mineral laden water.  They believed these waters to be restorative and a cure for all sorts of ills.  These beliefs persist to this day. 

Above the pools, the Greeks first settled the ancient city of Hieropolis as a thermal spa in the 2^nd century BC usurped a few centuries later by the Romans.  

The ruins of an extensive complex of roads, public buildings, and baths, capped by a well-preserved amphitheater, rise on the plateau above the thermal pools.   

A necropolis on the outskirts of the city provides a somewhat sobering entrance from the north.

A tomb in the necropolis

Today visitors still frolic in the pools and wander over the travertine terraces.  While the water flow has diminished from ancient times, it is still a remarkably beautiful place.

Kate takes the plunge