 Asclepion's Guest House | ||
| Epidaurus | ||
| region | Peloponnese | |
|---|---|---|
| Residents | unknown | |
no value for residents on Wikidata:  | ||
| height | unknown | |
| no value for height on Wikidata: | ||
| no tourist info on Wikidata: | ||
| location | ||
| ||
Epidaurus is an archaeological site in the peloponnesian region Argolis. The place is best known for the unique acoustics of the very well-preserved theater. The cult site of the healing god Asklepios has been part of the since 1988 UNESCO world cultural heritage.
background
The ancient place Epidaurus (Greek: Ἐπίδαυρος) was on the coast of the Saronic Gulf, this is where the place is today Archaia Epidavros. A little north of it there is the place Neea Epidavros. The touristically interesting Asclepion however, lies inland at the place Lygourio (Greek: Λυγουριό). Today's municipality of Epidauros, together with the surrounding districts, has almost 10,000 inhabitants and is only visited on the outskirts by most visitors.
getting there
By plane
In the street
Epidaurus is on the N70 between Isthmia and Nafplio.
By boat
mobility
Tourist Attractions
The Asclepion
An Asklepieion was a sanctuary in honor of Aeskulapus, the Greek god of healing. As a rule, in addition to the sacred temple complex, there was also a secular part, which by today's standards can be called a spa or sanatorium. The healing procedures in antiquity were based on a holistic approach, physical ailments could only be cured if the psyche was also healthy, so the theater, library, stadium and other cultural offerings were part of an asclepion.
In antiquity there were around 300 of these institutions, with the sanctuary in Epidaurus playing a special role. It originated around the 6th century BC. and had its heyday in the 4th and 3rd centuries. In the year 86 BC. got it through Sulla looted. In the 2nd century AD it experienced a new heyday, in 390 Theodosius I had the complex closed. In the years 522 and 551, two earthquakes destroyed the facility.
Admission price Asklepieion: 6 € (as of 2011)
theatre
The theater was built in the 4th century BC. Initially for 6,000 people, in the 2nd century it was expanded to around 12,000 seats. While the stage and rows of seats are very well preserved and are still used for concerts today, only remnants of the stage buildings remain. The excellent acoustics have remained. In the upper auditorium you can even hear clearly when a coin falls on the floor in the middle of the stage or when people are talking at normal volume. In the early Christian period, the theater was filled with earth and was able to withstand the earthquake relatively unscathed.
Stadion
The stadium, which dates from the 5th century, is also quite well preserved, with some of the seats still in place. This is the stadium where the games of the Asklepieia instead of that to the Panhellenic Games belong. Close to the stadium
More profane buildings
In ancient times there were a number of secular buildings between the theater and the stadium:
- a Guest house (Katagogion), in which the certainly wealthy spa guests of that time were accommodated.
- a Gymnasion, In Greek times it was the training facility for athletes, the Romans converted the building into an odeon.
- Baths, a thermal spring was used for the cures.
Sacred buildings
The most important buildings of the sacred area are
- the temple of Asclepius
- the Tholos, a rotunda in which the gods who brought health and fertility were worshiped. The Tholos is currently being rebuilt, which is not entirely undisputed.
- That takes a special position Abaton a. The sacred room was only accessible to the priests, a part was intended for the sick, to whom the gods should give insight into their therapy in dreams.
Other sacred buildings are the Temple of Artemis and the Temple of Aphrodite. This also includes a house for the priests, a library and a bathroom.
After the closure of the Asklepieion, the Christian one near the entrance halls was opened in the 5th century Agios Ioannis-Basilica erected.
museum
The small museum is divided into three rooms. The first room shows thank you gifts for successful cures and miraculous healings, and the medical instruments used here at that time are also on display. In the second room there are a number of statues, mostly votive offerings from the Asklepieion's last years. However, the statue of Aesculapius is a copy, the original is in the National Archaeological Museum in Athens. In the third room, parts of the building are reconstructed or available as models, here is also a model of the Tholos.
miscellaneous
The sanctuary of Apollon Maleata
The cult site is about 1 km east of the Asklepieion and already existed in Mycenaean times and was later transferred to the god Apollo, here by the nickname Maleata or Maleatas. The place of worship of his son Asklepios or Asclepius is more important, at least in Epidaurus. The buildings were redesigned again and again until Roman times.
Lygourio
There is a natural history museum in the small town. Exhibits are fossils from the area of Greece, especially ammonites from the area around Epidaurus. Also worth seeing is the church Agios Ioánnis Theólogos.
