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Two aqueductssimple channels cut through the surrounding hillsprovided the city with drinking water. One of these is located to the north between Pamukkale and Karahayit while the other is to the east in the direction of Güzelpinar. The stone slabs that covered them over may still be seen in place. These channels joined in a filtration chamber built on a hill east of the city and from there the water was carried by earthenware pipes to the city streets. Small pipe networks distributed water to buildings.
To exploit the city's abundant sources of water, large monumental
fountains were built in Hierapolis. These structures contained monumental
facades with columns and basins. Three of these fountains have been
foul-id at Hierapolis. They contained a rectangular pool enclosed
on three sides by a facade of columns which, as was the case with
theater skenes, were generally in two different architectural orders.
The largest nymphaeum is located at the entrance to the city and presumably
was intended to provide water to caravans passing by the city. In
the 4th century, the fountain became incorporated into the newly-constructed
city wall and the so-called "Byzantine Gate" was added.
Traces of its rich decorative elements from the period of the Severus
emperors can still be made out. There was a second, smaller nymphaeum
located in the center of the city. The third nymphaeum is from a later
period and is rather well preserved. It is located within the peribolus
(enclosure wall) of the Apollo temple and the materials employed in
its construction were scavenged from elsewhere. The fountain is richly
decorated and must have been built in the late 3rd or early 4th century.
Religious activities and the Apollo temple
The most important deity recognized at Hierapolis was Apollo, though
his sister Artemis and his mother Leto were also worshipped. Artemis
in particular was revered as more than merely a representation of
the original Greek goddess of the hunt: the goddess of Ephesos is
also encountered in the form of Artemis and the non-indigenous Greek
gods at Hierapolis were also worshipped with their local titles and
attributes.
The new temple to Apollo was built over a cave called the Plutonium,
a cavern of religious significance and a cult center of great antiquity.
According to popular legend, Apollo met here with Kybele, the Anatolian
mother goddess.
An excavation team discovered the mouth of the Plutonium in 1964. The entrance, framed by a semi-circular vault of marble, leads to an underground cavern from which poisonous gases emerge. Strabo tells us that the priests made use of these vapors to stage "miracles".
Coins and inscriptions indicate that the people of Hierapolis worshipped
Greek as well as native Anatolian gods. Among these deities were Dionysos,
Herakles, Men, Euposia, Tyche (the city's patron goddess), and Nemesis,
the goddess of vengeance. While the remains of the Apollo temple's
upper structure date no earlier than the 3rd century, the foundations
go back to late Hellenistic times. The temple must have measured about
20 by 15 meters but, because the remaining materials are so meager,
they provide us with little information about the structure. The temple
precinct was approach by a broad flight of steps. Today only the remains
of the temple's pronaos and cella are to be seen and before them,
parts of the peribolus.
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