The Necropolis of Hierapolis

Because Hierapolis was a spa and healing city, some of the visitors and health-seekers who arrived from every direction died here and were buried in the city. This is the main reason for the extraordinary growth of the necropolis.

The cemetery runs for kilometres along both sides of the roads leading into the city and holds more than 1,200 tombs — it is the largest known ancient necropolis in Anatolia and counts among the largest of the Greco-Roman world.

The necropolis brings together a variety of tomb forms from different periods and social ranks: tumuli covered with mounds of earth, house-shaped monumental tombs (heroa), sarcophagi carved from a single block of stone, and family burial structures — examples from the Hellenistic, Roman and Byzantine periods all stand side by side.

Many of the tombs bear inscriptions giving the name and profession of the person buried, or information about their family. These epitaphs offer valuable clues about the daily life and social structure of the ancient city.

The most famous of the inscriptions belongs to the merchant Flavius Zeuxis, owner of a tomb near the north gate. The inscription states that he made a full seventy-two voyages to Italy, rounding Cape Malea on the Peloponnese, notorious for its storms — one of the most concrete documents of long-distance trade in the Roman East ever carved in stone.

This single-sentence inscription lends a human story to the piles of stone as you walk the necropolis: every tomb here carries the name and labour of someone who lived two thousand years ago.

The densest part of the necropolis lies at the northern exit of the city, close to the travertines, and can be explored on foot. The area is open ground; a hat, water and comfortable shoes are recommended. Because most of the tombs are lined up along the roadside, the route unfolds as an uninterrupted open-air exhibition.