the Week of Proper 28 / Ordinary 33
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Bible Encyclopedias
Hierapolis
Kitto's Popular Cyclopedia of Biblical Literature
or Hierap´olis, a city of Phrygia, not far from Colosse and Laodicea, where there was a Christian church under the charge of Epaphros, as early as the time of St. Paul, who commends him for his fidelity and zeal (). The place is visible from the theater at Laodicea, from which it is five miles distant northward.
The place now bears the name of Pamluck-kale (Cotton-castle), from the white appearance of the cliffs of the mountain on the lower summit, or rather an extended terrace, on which the ruins are situated. It owed its celebrity, and probably the sanctity indicated by its ancient name (Holy City), to its very remarkable springs of mineral water, the singular effects of which, in the formation of stalactites and incrustations by its deposits, are shown in the accounts of Pococke and Chandler, to have been accurately described by Strabo. A great number and variety of sepulchers are found in the different approaches to the site, which on one side is sufficiently defended by the precipices overlooking the valleys of the Lycus and Mæander, while on the other sides the town walls are still observable. The magnificent ruins clearly attest the ancient importance of the place.
Public Domain.
Kitto, John, ed. Entry for 'Hierapolis'. "Kitto's Popular Cyclopedia of Biblical Literature". https://www.studylight.org/encyclopedias/eng/kbe/h/hierapolis.html.
