Private Pamukkale and Afrodisias Tour

In the morning we will pick you up from your hotel and we will drive about two and a half hours to Aphrodisias.

The ancient city of Aphrodisias is one of the pretty good conserved ones, with one temple still standing up. The ancient city was built in the late Hellenistic era and enlarged by the Romans. You can still see the theatre, the stadium which could store about 30,000 people is the only complete stadium after digging it up.

On our tour, we will also see the bouletarion, agora, and an old door and we will bring a visit to the museum in Afrodisias. We will spend about two and a half hours in the ancient city and then go on to Pamukkale / Hierapolis.

Pamukkale / Hierapolis is listed in Unesco's World Heritage List as a ‘Natural Site’ and ‘Ancient City’; and is famous for its hot springs which are believed to be having healing powers. The travertines are formed by a multifaceted chemical reaction and subsequent precipitation of various causes and environments. Water springs from the ground with a high level of Calcium Hydrocarbonate at a temperature of 35.6 degrees C; and this causes carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide to evaporate and leave calcium carbonate to precipitate and form the travertine.

Hierapolis has been a settlement of different cults and cultures throughout history; and the city is believed to have been founded by Eumenies II, the Attalid king of Pergamon at the end of the 2nd Century BC; and to has been named after Hiera, the beautiful wife of Telephos, the legendary founder of Pergamon. However, ancient historians like Strabon and Ptolemaios state that Hierapolis was a Phrygian settlement.

Hierapolis played an important role in spreading Christianity in Anatolia, and it was the place where Phillip, one of the twelve Apostles of Jesus Christ, died. For this reason, Hierapolis became an important religious center in the 4th century AD. Later it assumed the title of the ‘Guide of the East’; and the city came under the control of the Roman Empire in 395 AD, and became a metropolitan bishopric.

Our tour in Hierapolis includes the Necropolis, Domitian Gate, Frontinus Street, the Agora, the North Byzantine Gate, the Gymnasium, the Foundation with Triton, Apollon Temple, the Martyrium of St Philip and Bridge, the Column Church, the ruins of Basilica, Plutonium, Latrina and the Roman Baths.

Our guide will show you Pamukkale and it will take about one and a half hours, after that, you have free time to look around. If you bring your swimming clothes you can also visit the Cleopatra Pool, but they charge an entrance fee of 50 lira extra; this is not included in our tour program.

After our Hierapolis and travertine tour, you will be transferred to your hotel in Kusadasi, the port of Kusadasi, or to your hotel in Selcuk.