No Boll Weevils in This Turkish ‘Cotton Palace’

One moment you’re winding along a two-lane road lined with pink, flowering bushes, through the gently rolling countryside in southwestern Turkey.

The next, you reach the crest of a hill and the landscape in front of you suddenly erupts into a giant, white, frothy volcano.

What appear to be massive sheets of blinding white snow and colossal icicles cascade from a height of 330 feet to the Denizli plain.

What you’ve come across is Pamukkale, Turkey’s famous “Cotton Palace.”

Thermal springs laden with calcium bicarbonate are responsible for the formation of this extraordinary sight.

As the 95-degree water bubbles off the edge of the plateau and cools, it releases carbon dioxide and deposits chalky calcium carbonate on the side of the cliff.

Over the centuries these chalk deposits have formed more than 100 basins and countless stalactites that stretch for more than three miles.

Pamukkale’s hot springs are world-renowned for their medicinal qualities. Since Roman times, travelers have journeyed here to rest and recuperate.

The legacy of the past is still visible in the nearby ruins of the ancient city of Hierapolis.

Today, Pamukkale, 11 miles north of Denizli, is a popular stop on the tourist circuit. Tour companies in Izmir and Kusadasi frequently include it on their daylong excursion from the Aegean coast.

Raucous herds of European tourists start tearing off their outer clothing and splashing noisily in the milky white water as soon as they get off the tour buses. Others soap themselves with chalk-mud and parade around like albino penguins.

Every year May 25-27 the frenzy reaches a climax during the Pamukkale Festival, which features traditional Zeybek dancing.

One way to appreciate Pamukkale, however, is to do as the Romans did: Stay for a leisurely couple of days or even weeks and let the thermal waters work their magic.

For $50 to $100 U.S. a night, the hotels on the plateau above the calcified cliffs offer the most spectacular views and bathing pools.

The Tusan Motel, for example, is partially enclosed by 11th-Century Byzantine castle walls and has an immense outdoor, hot-spring, swimming pool. Bathers can swim almost to the edge of the cliff and look out onto the vast Denizli Plain.

The Tusan’s dining room has large, open windows that offer a panoramic view of the countryside and tiny Pamukkale village. It is especially charming at night when the pinpricks of light in the houses below begin to twinkle.

Inside the nearby Pamukkale Hotel, spring water flows over partially submerged marble columns and broken Corinthian capitals.

The bathing area is surrounded by flowering gardens and cafe tables where you can sit and sip ayran, a popular Turkish yogurt drink.

Some newer hotels, many of them still under construction, offer rooms for $15 to $30 a night in Pamukkale village.

Several rooftop terrace restaurants provide pleasant surroundings for a breakfast of omelets or a kofte (meatball) supper. New discos, taverns and souvenir shops are opening.

But the precipitous terraces of Pamukkale are at their best in the morning before the onslaught of tourists. The chalky water in the pools is cool, and as you walk, the muck grabs at your feet like plaster of Paris, producing squishing sounds.

A light blue mist generally shrouds the wheat-colored countryside until late morning, when it disappears under the rays of the hot Turkish sun.

The name Pamukkale, or “cotton palace,” probably refers to the cotton (pamuk) planted in the region or to the chalk terraces resembling cottonballs. Another explanation is that cotton is synonymous with the color white, giving rise to a palace, or kale.

In the evening, Pamukkale is a photographer’s delight. The basins undergo a succession of color transformations from clear azure to liquid gold to midnight blue as darkness covers the land.

The healing power of the hot springs was known to the early Hittites and Phyrygians. However, it was King Eumenes II, King of Pergamon, who decided in 190 BC to build a city near the site, naming it Hierapolis (“Holy City”).

The ruins of the great bath of Hierapolis now house a small museum filled with finds from nearby excavations.

Up the hill, behind the Pamukkale motel, you can walk among broken marble pillars from the famous temple of Apollo and see the martyrium of the apostle St. Philip, who was killed in Hierapolis in AD 80.

If you search carefully you will find what is called Cin Deligi, the “Devil’s Hole,” due to the poisonous sulfuric gas emitted from the site. A sign beside a small door leading into the grotto still issues a warning to passers-by.

This was originally part of the Plutonion built for Pluto, god of the underworld. In ancient times the only ones who entered safely were the priests, who crept along the floor from one oxygen pocket to another.

The crowning glory of Hierapolis was--and still is--its magnificent 10,000-seat theater. Only the excavation of the orchestra and the stage building has been completed.

If you are willing to take a hazardous climb to the top of the outer rim of seats, you will be rewarded with an Apollonian view of the entire ruins and, far off, the white chalk cliffs of Pamukkale.

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The tourist season generally lasts from early April to the end of October. Daytime temperatures during that period are about 60 to 85 degrees.

Turkey’s modernized bus system connects Pamukkale or nearby Denizli with Istanbul, Ankara, Izmir, Antalya and other major cities. Buses run several times a day and tickets to most destinations cost $3-$5.

Tour companies based in Izmir and Kusadasi offer one-day excursions that include a stop at Pamukkale.

Car rentals in major cities average about $50 a day. The roads connecting to Pamukkale are well-maintained and well-marked.

Three motels--the Tusan, Pamukkale and Koru--sitting on top of the plateau offer hot-springs bathing pools and splendid views of the chalk terraces. Prices range from $55 to $100 a night.

In Pamukkale village, lower-priced rooms are $20 to $30 a night, with breakfast, and are available at motels such as the Yurok and Cetin.

For more information on travel to Turkey, contact the Turkish Consulate General, General Office of the Culture & Information Attache, 821 United Nations Plaza, New York 10017, (212) 687-2194.