The Asklepion of Kos
Photo: Greece Field Guide
The Verdict
A healing sanctuary built up three terraces above the coast, with the best-preserved temple in the Dodecanese — go at opening.
Why go
The Asklepion was the healing sanctuary of Kos and the reason the island mattered in the ancient world: a temple and treatment complex built on three terraces up a hillside, with the coast of Turkey across the water. The Doric temple of Asklepios survives better than most in the region, and the scale of the terraces gives the sense of a working institution rather than a monument. It is twenty minutes from town, and the coaches arrive mid-morning, so go at opening — and take water, because there is no shade.
Understand the place
The ancient sanctuary of Asklepios on a hillside above the south coast of Kos, laid out on three great terraces with the temple at the top.
Nearby
Related
More ancient sites in Greece
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