Turkey: An Amphitheatre With a Huge WOW Factor

The Theatre at Hierapolis

 

Not only is the Theatre of Hierapolis a stunning sight from the ruins of the ancient city of Hierapolis, but it is also set just up the hill from one of Turkey's natural wonders, Pamukkale's "frozen waterfall," an attraction since Roman times.

 

 

The theatre at Hierapolis is a Greek style building hollowed out of the slope of the hill.  It is 91 meters high.  The theater's construction was started in 62 AD.  However, it was not completed until the Severus Era in 206 AD.  In 352, the theatre underwent a thorough restoration and was adapted for water shows.

 

There are four entrances, each with six statues in niches flanked by marble columns.  The auditorium (cavea), which seats 15,000, features an imperial box.

 

People have bathed in the pools at Pamukkale for thousands of years.  The terraces are made of travertine, a sedimentary rock deposited by water from hot springs.  There are 17 springs, from 35 degrees to 100 degrees C.  The water travels 1050 feet to the travertine terraces and deposits calcium carbonate on a section 200 to 230 feet long.  When the water, supersaturated with calcium carbonate, reaches the surface, carbon dioxide is released and calcium carbonate, deposited.  Calcium carbonate is deposited by the water as a soft jelly, but it eventually hardens into travertine.  Note some of the ruins in Hieropolis in the background of the photo above.

 

We had one last glimpse of the theatre as we left this incredible, awe-inspiring site in Turkey.