Phrygian Hierapolis (modern Pamukkale, “Cotton Castle”) is situated near the Maeander on silica terraces alongside a vigorous spring, high above a fertile plain. It was founded in the 2nd century bce by colonists from Pergamum and flourished from the 1st through the 3rd centuries (theater; nymphaeum; temple of Apollo by a cleft in the earth thought to be an entrance to the netherworld; thermae; impressive necropoleis with mausolea and sarcophagi) and again in the 5th/6th centuries ce (city walls; several churches within the city; a church in the northern …
Hierapolis (Asia Minor)(186 words)
Cite this page
Koch, Guntram, “Hierapolis (Asia Minor)”, in: Religion Past and Present. Consulted online on 19 March 2024 <http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/1877-5888_rpp_SIM_09792>
First published online: 2011
First print edition: ISBN: 9789004146662, 2006-2013
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