Well, it's not actually a castle, and it's certainly not made of cotton. Turkey's Pamukkale, however, is almost as weird.
In Denizli Province, Turkey, are hot springs that have been used by humans for nearly 2,000 years. The hot springs were the site of an ancient Greco-Roman spa town, Hierapolis, and since it was built— and perhaps before then— people have been coming to the hot springs to be healed or just to relax. The minerals in the water there are said to help with asthma, skin conditions, eye conditions, and muscle aches, among other problems.
Those healing minerals— mostly calcium, magnesium sulfate, sodium hydrogen carbonate— are the reason for the Cotton Castle's name. For thousands of years, the water bubbling up out of the many springs has obeyed the law of gravity and gradually flowed downhill. As it went, it deposited calcium and released carbon dioxide and in the process created travertine. This white rock built up gradually, forming terraces of pools, cascading downward. Many terraces have stalactite formations hanging over their sides. The soft-looking white rock makes the entire site look like it's been molded out of a fluffy cloud or out of cotton. It is, of course, much more solid than any cloud, and people can explore the many shallow pools with their milky-looking water and porous stone sides.
There are many pools to bathe in at Pamukkale. One of the most special is the Sacred Pool. The Sacred Pool was the most important bathing spot of the ancient spa town and is still scattered with collapsed pieces of ancient marble columns. More ruins can be seen where Hierapolis once stood. Some surviving parts of the old city are Roman tombs, ancient archways, a theater, and a cave temple. Just as it did in ancient times, the site calls people to be healed or simply to bask in the beauty of nature.
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