Epidauros

The only thing most of you are going to think about when hearing the name Epidauros is a big theatre. And you are hardly to blame for this. But did you know that Epidauros is actually something else, that this theatre is only a part of something bigger that has nothing to do with theatrical plays? Do you really know, what this famous Epidauros is?

Well, first of all, Epidauros is located on the Peloponnese, with only 30 km distance not too far from the city of Nafplio. Since 1988 it is on the list of UNESCO world cultural heritages.
And as not a lot of people know, before everything else, Epidauros is a medical facility; it is the biggest cult place for the greek god Asklepios, the god of medicine. Sick people came here and hoped to get cured of whatever illness they had. This makes Epidauros to a big facility, extending on a big area. It is much more than just a theatre.

700 years bc the cult place was built in Epidauros and over the course of many years, it developed to the biggest cult place for Asklepios, and became some sort of medical facility on this way too. Up to 160 persons were able to live at the same time at Epidauros, a lot of people for the ancient Greece. Usually there were four program points, every person coming for a cure to this place, participated in, which were half medical, and half religious. First of all, everyone had to wash himself at one of the fountains after his or her arrival. Then, they had to make a sacrifice for Apollo, who was the patron of this facility. In their first night, the people slept in the so called Abaton, where they hoped to see Asklepios in their dreams to talk to him about how they should be cured. And last of all, there were talks with the priests about how the people should be cured too. During this procedure, until the patients got cured, they lived in rooms on the facility. And because the ancient greeks were a very cultural nation, there were also buildings for entertainment on the campus, as for example a stadium, a library, a gymnasion, all still mostly good preserved, and of course the famous theatre of Epidauros, the place all of us automatically connect to Epidauros. And to be fair, it is really no wonder, that this theatre is the most famous part of Epidauros. Built 400 years bc, it has place for up to 14 thousand (!) people, a great view and extraordinarily good acoustics. If one person in the middle of the theatre drops a coin, you can hear it in the last row!

So, Epidauros is really worth visiting, but keep in mind, that it is first of all a medical facility and a cult place for the gods Asklepios and Apollo, although the theatre alone is reason enough to visit it. If you come to the right time, you even have the chance to see a play!