Camera: Nikon FE     Lens: Soligor 3.8-4.8/75-205mm     Film: Agfa CT100     Date: 09.10.1987

Travertine terraces at Pamukkale, Denizli Province, Turkey

Known as Pamukkale (Cotton Castle) or ancient Hierapolis (Holy City), this area in Turkey's Inner Aegean region has been drawing visitors to its thermal springs since the time of antiquity. The Turkish name refers to the surface of the shimmering, snow-white limestone, shaped over millennia by calcite-rich springs. Dripping slowly down the mountainside, mineral-rich waters collect in and cascade down the mineral terraces, into pools below. Legend has it that the formations are solidified cotton (the area's principal crop) that giants left out to dry. Today a small footpath runs up the mountain face for visitors to use, however the travertine terraces are all off-limits, having suffered damage, erosion and water pollution due to tourism.