Concept

Hierapolis

Summary
Hierapolis (ˌhaɪəˈræpəlɪs; Ἱεράπολις, lit. "Holy City") was originally a Phrygian cult centre of the Anatolian mother goddess of Cybele and later a Greek city. Its location was centred upon the remarkable and copious hot springs in classical Phrygia in southwestern Anatolia. Its extensive remains are adjacent to modern Pamukkale in Turkey. The hot springs have been used as a spa since at least the 2nd century BC, with many patrons retiring or dying there as evidenced by the large necropolis filled with tombs, most famously that of Marcus Aurelius Ammianos, which bears a relief depicting the earliest known example of a crank and rod mechanism, and the Tomb of Philip the Apostle. It was added as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1988. In the archaeological site operates since 1957 the "Italian Archaeological Mission of Hierapolis of Frigia" (MAIER), currently directed by Grazia Semeraro, Professor of Classical Archaeology of the University of Salento. Pamukkale Hierapolis is located in the Büyük Menderes (the classical Meander) valley adjacent to the modern Turkish cities of Pamukkale and Denizli. Known as Pamukkale (Cotton Castle) or ancient Hierapolis (Holy City), this area has been drawing the weary to its thermal springs since the time of Classical antiquity. Pamukkale, meaning "cotton castle" in Turkish, is the natural formations inside the archaeological site. The area is famous for the travertine limestone deposited by the hot springs. In 2016, excavations were carried out in the Northern Necropolis area of Hierapolis at the entrance of the Archaeological Park by the archaeologists from Denizli Hierapolis Archeology Museum. During these excavations, Iron Age settlement structures were unearthed for the first time in Hierapolis. There are round huts belonging to a large settlement believed to cover the side of the Çökelez Mountain overlooking the wide plain of the Lykos River. Before the Greek colony was established the cult area dedicated to Cybele around a cave and the surrounding rocks was the center of the archaic settlement.
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