Hierapolis, a city in Phrygia, was home to a Christian community mentioned by Paul in his letter to the Colossians (Col.4.13).
Hierapolis was an ancient city located in the region of Phrygia, in modern-day Turkey. It is mentioned once in the New Testament, in Paul's letter to the Colossians (Col.4.13). In this passage, Paul expresses his concern for the believers in Hierapolis, along with those in Laodicea and Colossae. This suggests that there was a Christian community in Hierapolis during the first century AD. Hierapolis was known for its hot springs and became a popular spa city in the Roman period. The city was also associated with the worship of the Phrygian mother goddess Cybele. The ruins of Hierapolis, including well-preserved Roman baths, temples, and a necropolis, can still be seen today.
Approximate location: 37.925, 29.125 · view on a map · on the Bible atlas
Sacred city, a city of Phrygia, where was a Christian church under the care of Epaphras (Col. 4:12, 13). This church was founded at the same time as that of Colosse. It now bears the name of Pambuk-Kalek, i.e., “Cotton Castle”, from the white appearance of the cliffs at the base of which the ruins are found.
(holy city), a city of Phrygia, situated above the junction of the rivers Lycus and Maeander, near Colossae and Laodicea mentioned only in (Colossians 4:13) as the seat of a church probably founded by Epaphras.
HIERAP'OLIS(sacred city),a city in Proconsular Asia, Col 4:13, near the river Lycus, and in sight of Laodicea, which was about 5 miles to the south. It stood on a high bluff, with a high mountain behind it. In the city was the famous temple of Pluto, remains of which are still to be seen. The ruins of the city are extensive, among which are the remains of temples, churches, a triumphal arch, a theatre, gymnasium, baths, and highly ornamented sarcophagi. Hierapolis was celebrated for its warm springs, which hold in solution carbonate of lime, depositing incrustations on anything with which the waters come in contact. It is now called Pambouk Kalessi.
HIERAP'OLIS(sacred city),a city in Proconsular Asia, Col 4:13, near the river Lycus, and in sight of Laodicea, which was about 5 miles to the south. It stood on a high bluff, with a high mountain behind it. In the city was the famous temple of Pluto, remains of which are still to be seen. The ruins of the city are extensive, among which are the remains of temples, churches, a triumphal arch, a theatre, gymnasium, baths, and highly ornamented sarcophagi. Hierapolis was celebrated for its warm springs, which hold in solution carbonate of lime, depositing incrustations on anything with which the waters come in contact. It is now called Pambouk Kalessi.
Easton (1897), Smith (1863), Hitchcock (1869), Hastings (1898) and Schaff are in the public domain. Parsed text: neuu-org/bible-dictionary-dataset (CC BY 4.0). Headwords and whitespace normalised for this site.
1 verse in 1 book · English text: BSB (change it from the menu at the top) · Strong’s G2404
For I testify about him that he goes to great pains for you and for those at Laodicea and Hierapolis.
Names, family links and references: STEPBible TIPNR (Tyndale House Cambridge, CC BY 4.0). Short descriptions were drafted with AI assistance by STEPBible. Family links follow STEPBible’s scholarly decisions where genealogies are ambiguous.