Monday 2 September 2024
The storms petered out overnight and we woke up to stunning views from our very remote roadside lay-by, just below the ancient site of Sagalassos. We were at an altitude of 1600 meters and the valley beneath us was hidden under a blanket of low cloud.
Shortly after the site gates opened we had paid our €8 each and were off exploring the vast site. Despite this being a more popular tourist attraction than Kibyra we were still all alone wandering around the ruins for most of the 3 hours we were there. To the far west of the site we clambered over the stones of the, yet to be excavated, stadium and to the eastern city boundary we climbed up to the very top of the theatre which seated up to 9000 in its heyday.
En route there were so many buildings in various states of reconstruction including a Heroön, the Bouleuterion, a temple, the Upper and Lower Agoras, rock tombs, the colonnaded street, the Tiberian gate steps, a gymnasium, the Roman baths and the beautifully restored Antonine Fountain. Many statues and artefacts from the site are on display at Burdur Archeological Museum including legs from a 5 meter high statue of Emperor Hadrian.
The visitor centre at Sagalassos relays the history of the many years of excavation of the site which began in the 1980’s with archaeologists from Belgium. Today, various areas are cordoned off as teams work on painstakingly restoring buildings and procession ways. Across the site blocks are lined up and numbered like a giant 3D puzzle waiting to be reconstructed in their original position. If almost all the original building blocks are available the archaeologists and their teams can rebuild using the addition of some modern materials ensuring these are unobtrusive but also recognisable as replacement materials, a process called anastylosis.
It must have been such an impressive city in its heyday - located majestically on a steep mountain side, with plentiful spring water and fertile soils. At midday we reluctantly dragged ourselves away and set off for Pamukkale which romantically translates as ‘cotton castles’. The area is famous for its mineral-rich thermal waters which flow down a hillside creating beautiful white travertine terraces and turquoise blue pools. We’ve been here 3 times before, twice in the 80’s and once in the 00’s. We’re not sure when they introduced entry fees, we don’t actually recall paying the first time we came. Today it costs £25 per person so we decided to give it a miss this trip. If you Google Pamukkale you’ll see some wonderful Instagram worthy photographs of the pools. I’ll update the blog when we’re home with photos from our previous visits (long before Instagram and TikTok existed!). As a natural phenomenon I doubt it’s changed hugely other than being a whole lot busier and much more expensive.
We walked into Pamukkale town after another squally storm had passed through and took some photographs of the illuminated terraces at night from the public park. It feels very much like a place for day visitors as the restaurants and tourist tat shops were still open but largely empty. We settled down for the night in our campsite but sleep was elusive. Live music from a party at a nearby hotel blared out until 00:30 am and the dawn call to prayer from the imam at the mosque came at 05:00 am. In quick succession after that came the cockerels wake up call and the lighting of hot air balloons from the nearby field. We’ll be searching out another remote deserted lay-by for tonight to catch up on some sleep!
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