With their ethereal white travertine terraces and thermal springs, Pamukkale, Turkey's "Cotton Castle," has enthralled guests for millennia.Many legends and mythological stories handed down through the years have sprang from these natural beauties.From heavenly interventions to historic healing miracles, these ten amazing tales highlight the enchanted appeal of Pamukkale's holy waters.Where fact and mythology mix in the boiling seas of time, each legend provides a different window into the historical and cultural relevance of this UNESCO World Heritage site.
1. The Goddess's Tears
Old Phrygian legend holds that the tears of Cybele, the mother goddess of fertility and nature, created Pamukkale's immaculate white terraces.Her loss was so great that she cried forty days and nights, her beloved mortal shepherd Attis dead.Her holy tears poured down the slope, crystallizing into the current pure white calcium formations.According to the tradition, individuals who wash in the thermal waters can feel the goddess's healing embrace; the thermal waters still hold remnants of her continuous grief.Local legends have ladies looking for fertility visiting these springs during the full moon, thinking Cybele's blessing may assist in conception.Generations of local families have kept the tale alive; many still say they can sense the goddess's presence in the misty early air above the terraces.
