The Antique Pool (Cleopatra's Pool)

Everywhere else on the hill, the thermal water is something you look at. Here, it is something you get into. The Antique Pool, widely sold as Cleopatra’s Pool, is a warm, gently fizzing spring inside the Hierapolis grounds where swimming is not only allowed, it is the whole idea.

Swimming among the columns

The pool’s signature is underfoot: fallen marble columns and carved blocks lying on the bottom, tipped in by an ancient earthquake and never cleared. You float and paddle directly over two thousand years of Roman stone, in water that stays warm all year and prickles slightly with natural carbonation. It is shallow enough to stand in most places and deeper at one end.

The practical bits

• It is a separate ticket on top of your Hierapolis and terraces entry, bought at the pool.
• Bring swimwear, a towel and flip-flops. There are changing rooms and lockers.
• The water is warm year-round, so this is one of the few things at Pamukkale that works just as well on a cool or grey day.
• It gets busy at midday with the coach groups; early or late is calmer here too.

Is it worth it?

Honestly, it depends on your day. If you like the idea of a warm swim over Roman ruins and you are not racing a clock, it is a memorable hour and the natural end to a morning on the terraces. If you are on a tight day trip and swimming is not your thing, it is the easiest part of the site to skip without regret. Either way, decide before you go so the extra ticket is a choice, not a surprise.

Once you are dry, the rest of Hierapolis is right there, and the white terraces drop away just below.