Travertine Terraces

White calcium pools cascading down the Pamukkale hillside

The travertines are formed by calcium-rich water bubbling up at 35°C from springs above the cliff and cascading down a 200-metre slope, depositing limestone as it cools. The result is dozens of shallow, scallop-edged pools in a brilliant white that turns blue with the water inside — instantly recognisable from a hundred Turkish tourism posters.

Visitors walk the slope on a single designated barefoot path; you carry your shoes in your hand. The water is warm in winter and chilled-feeling in summer. Bring a swimsuit — the pools at the upper levels are deep enough to bathe in. Sunset turns the white travertines pink and is the most photographed hour of the day; sunrise has fewer crowds.

things to do sight
A story
The terraces have been a destination for nearly two and a half millennia — the Greeks built Hierapolis here in the 2nd century BC specifically to take the waters. By the 1980s, hotels on the plateau were diverting the springs and the terraces had turned grey from foot traffic. UNESCO threatened delisting, the hotels were demolished, the springs restored, and the white came back.