Ancient Epidavros: The Theater and Sanctuary of Asklipious Page 1

Epidavros is a World Heritage Site. Epidaurus was one of the most important medical sanctuaries of the ancient world, dedicated to Asklipios, the god of healing, superseding the earlier sanctuary of Apollo by the 4th century BC.

The Asklipian cult probably originated in Homeric times in Thessaly (from Trikke) from which it migrated southward, but it first attained prominence at Epidaurus during the 6-5th centuries BC., spreading from there to Athens (where there is are ruins of an Asklipian sanctuary on the south slope below the Acropolis).

The sanctuary at Epidaurus, along with that on the island of Kos (where Hippocrates practiced medecine), were the two most famous.

More Epidavros: The Theater and Sanctuary of Asklipious Page 1 | 2 | 3 | 4