Cleopatra's Antique Pool

The pool sits over the sacred thermal spring that was the reason Hierapolis was founded. In antiquity this spring was a centre of healing and belief; the city's religious buildings — including the sanctuary of Apollo — rose around it. For centuries, those seeking healing entered this water.

A powerful earthquake that struck the region in the 7th century AD toppled the colonnaded structures around the spring; the marble columns fell straight into the water, and the pool took its present form. According to legend, Marcus Antonius gave the pool to Cleopatra as a gift — which is where the name comes from; it is an established legend, not a historical record.

The water temperature is around 36 °C year-round and the water is rich in minerals; fine bubbles can be seen on the surface. Swimmers pass among and over two-thousand-year-old marble column fragments — a rare experience anywhere in the world, where an active thermal spa and an archaeological site are interwoven.

The pool is not deep, but its bottom is uneven: submerged marble blocks, column drums and spring gravel form a rugged floor underwater. For the story of the columns, see the Sunken Columns page under this topic.