A dazzling white scar on the brown slope of the mountain north of Denizli marks the position of the great travertine basins of Pamukkale. Just after the villave which nestles at the base of the cliff, the road from Denizli begins to climb up to Pamukkale. Neither the exaggerated prose of travel brochures nor its overexpo sure on posters are able to diminish its magnificence. At last steps are being taken to rescue this unique geological formation from the misguided commercial exploitation which it has suffered in recent years. For countless millennia a spring located somewhere on the plateau, possibly in the neighbourhood of the ancient theatre, has been pouring out streams of hot mineral water. These have plunged down the mountain-side creating in the process enormous circular basins which are fringed with stalactites and surrounded by a huge area of smooth, dazzling, white calcareous rock-hence its name in Turkish Pamukkale'. Cotton Castle.