Hierapolis

(holy city) (Col 2:3 in the source; 4:13) - a city of Phrygia in Asia Minor, celebrated for its warm baths. It stood not far from Colossae and Laodicea, near the junction of the Maeander and Lycus Rivers. Its later name was Pambuk-Kalesi, 'the city of cotton.' The ruins of Hierapolis were often described by travelers. One later traveler, the Englishman Hartley, wrote that majestic remains of antiquity covered a circuit of three or four miles. They stood upon a mountain in a very picturesque setting, bordered by a valley in front and mountains behind.

The theater ruins were excellently preserved, and many ruins of Christian churches were also found. The city once had a bishop who attended the First Council of Nicaea in AD 325. According to tradition, the holy apostle Philip taught and suffered martyrdom at Hierapolis. In the source's day, it says, the ruins served only as a refuge for unfortunate lepers, who under Turkish laws were liable to be killed if they approached dwellings or met other people and therefore wandered in groups through inaccessible places covered with ruins.