Hierapolis

Overview

• Type: City
• Testament: New
• Modern Location: Pamukkale, Denizli Province, Turkey; well-preserved ruins with hot springs

Biblical Significance

Hierapolis (“Holy City”) was a prosperous Greco-Roman city situated in the Lycus River valley in the Roman province of Asia Minor, located about 6 miles north of Laodicea and about 12 miles from Colossae. The city owed much of its fame and economic activity to its remarkable hot springs, whose calcium-laden waters cascaded over the hillside creating brilliant white terraced formations still visible today. These thermal waters were believed to have healing properties, drawing visitors from across the region and supporting a significant textile-dyeing industry.

Paul never personally visited Hierapolis, but his letter to the Colossians refers to it alongside Laodicea as a city where Epaphras labored faithfully. Epaphras, who founded the churches in the Lycus Valley, had worked hard on behalf of believers in all three cities — Colossae, Laodicea, and Hierapolis — and reported their condition to Paul during his imprisonment. The brief mention in Colossians 4:13 suggests an active Christian community existed there, though it never received a direct apostolic letter.

Early church tradition holds that Philip the Apostle (or possibly Philip the Evangelist) lived out his final years in Hierapolis and was martyred and buried there. The tomb of Philip was identified at the site by archaeologists in 2011 near the ancient martyrion complex. The later bishop Papias, a significant early church father known for collecting oral traditions about Jesus and the apostles, was also bishop of Hierapolis in the early second century. These connections make Hierapolis an important, if indirect, site in early church history.

Key Events

• Paul’s Imprisonment Correspondence - Epaphras reported his labors at Hierapolis to Paul

Key People Associated

• Epaphras - labored for the churches at Hierapolis, Laodicea, and Colossae

Important Verses

• Colossians 4:13

Cross-References

• Colossians - the letter that mentions Hierapolis
• Colossae - the primary recipient of Paul’s letter; nearby city
• Laodicea - the neighboring city between Hierapolis and Colossae
• Epaphras - the man who founded and labored in these Lycus Valley churches

Notes

• The lukewarm water of Laodicea (Revelation 3:16) may be understood by contrast with Hierapolis’s hot springs — Hierapolis’s water was hot and medicinal, Laodicea’s was tepid and known to cause nausea, making the metaphor vivid to first-century readers
• The identification of Philip’s tomb at Hierapolis in 2011 was a significant archaeological find, adding material confirmation to early church traditions about the apostle’s final ministry location
• Papias of Hierapolis (c. AD 60-130) is one of the most important early witnesses to apostolic oral tradition; his writings, though largely lost, are quoted by Eusebius