Also called the Antique Pool or the Sacred Pool, this is a warm natural thermal spring where you can swim among genuine fragments of ancient marble, fluted columns and carved capitals that tumbled into the water when an earthquake felled a Roman portico. The mineral water bubbles up at a pleasantly warm temperature year-round, fizzing gently with dissolved gases, and floating over the submerged columns is a genuinely surreal, only-here experience; legend, unprovable but irresistible, ties the spot to Cleopatra herself. It sits in the heart of the Hierapolis site and charges a separate entry fee on top of the main ticket, with changing rooms, lockers and a cafe on hand. It gets crowded and the water is shallow, so treat it as a magical soak rather than a serious swim. Bring swimwear, a towel and water shoes for the stony bottom, and go at opening or late afternoon for room to move.
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