» Day 6 - Bodrum / Pamukkale (Caria / Phrygia) (B,L,D)

We are now in Caria, the land of the Carians, a people who lived here before the arrival of the Greeks, and mentioned in Hittite treaties of the 11th century BC. We leave behind the coast and reach Aphrodisias, inhabited since the 3rd millennium BC and probably the center of a cult of Babylonian origin, that reached its peak in the Roman period, when it became a site of pilgrimage for the worshippers of the goddess Aphrodite. The city was abandoned definitely at the time of the Seljuk and Turcoman invasions of the 11th and 13th century AD. Ongoing excavations have brought to light Turkey’s best preserved Hellenistic city. The immense stadium, which is perfect condition, rivals in dimensions with the stadium of Pompei, while the largest pool of the Thermal Bath reflected the Ionian columns of the portico. We see also the Temple of Aphrodite, the Odeon, the Portico of Tiberius and the walls of the 3rd century AD. We continue towards Pamukkale, the “castle of cotton,” the Turkish name for Hierapolis, to visit the archaeological site and see the petrified cascades. This extraordinary site, a UNESCO heritage center, has a spring of hot (35°C) and strongly mineralized water that creates an amazing spectacle made of natural pools and terraces of calcite. Founded in the late 2nd century BC, Hierapolis became a cosmopolitan city under the Romans where Anatolians, Greek-Macedonians, Romans and Jews lived together. Hydrotherapy was accompanied by religious practices. The flight of travertine steps is particularly impressive when the sun sets. Dinner and overnight at hotel in Pamukkale.