Kós (Part 2)

The Asklepion

The Asklepion is Kós’ most famous ancient site named, like others of its ilk, after Asklepios, the Greek god of healing. Shrines to the Asklepios were built all over ancient Greece, usually in a place with a natural spring. They became centres of pilgrimage for people suffering from illness and disease hoping for a cure. The Asklepion at Kós is one of the most famous and it has been said that Hippocrates worked here, but in reality he probably died just before the Asklepion was founded. The site was rediscovered at the beginning of the 20^th century and excavated and restored by Italian archaeologists.

1^st Terrace

The Asklepion is laid out on 3 terraces. The 1^st, the lowest terrace, provided (and still does provide) the entrance to the site and was itself reached up a wide flight of steps. There are a lot of steps in the Asklepion, which can’t have made access easy for the visiting invalids and, of course, there was no such thing as compulsory wheelchair access 2000 years ago! This terrace was bounded on 3 sides by a stoa, the 4^th side being the retaining wall supporting the 2^nd terrace. There are several niches in this wall, one with a spring and a water cistern and a second, in the form of a temple, in which there remains a statue base. The temple was dedicated by Gaius Stertinius Xenophon of Kós who was the personal doctor to the emperors Tiberus, Claudius (who it seems he poisoned) and Nero (who succeed Claudius). It is thought that the statue that used to stand on the base in the niche was one of Nero.

Roman Baths

To the east of the 1^st terrace was a complex of Roman baths, which we could only really view from the outside.

Letter (right) and proclamations

Hidden behind the bath complex is a small museum housing ancient proclamations carved into ornate pieces of stone. There was even what was described as a ‘letter’ carved onto a large cuboid piece of stone – you really wouldn’t want to have been a postman in that era!

2nd Terrace: (Top) Altar with Ionic Temple to Asklepios beyond the path  (Bottom)  Ionic Temple to Asklepios and priests’ residence

2nd Terrace: (Top) Altar with Ionic Temple to Asklepios beyond the path 
(Bottom)  Ionic Temple to Asklepios and priests’ residence

The 2^nd terrace houses the oldest structure in the Asklepion, the altar (4^th century BC), but little now remains of it. The Ionic Temple to Asklepios is the earliest of the several temples at the site and dates to about 3^rd century BC. Between this temple and the retaining wall of the top terrace is a small building which is believed to have been the priests’ residence, which is where the sick waited for Asklepios to appear to them in their dreams and heal them. Close at hand, in the retaining wall of the top terrace is the entrance to the sacred spring.

2nd Terrace: ‘Temple in Corinthian Order’ (2^nd century AD)    

3rd Terrace: Doric Temple of Asklepios (2^nd century BC)    

The large Doric Temple to Asklepios, built in the 2^nd century BC, crowns the whole Asklepion on the 3^rd terrace.

3^rd Terrace: Temple of Asklepios

It was originally surrounded by stoa on both sides and behind it but, as with the structure on the lower terraces, little remains primarily because the Knights of St John reused much of the masonry in the construction of their castle at Kós town.

However, the fantastic views over the lower terraces and across to Turkey more than make up for the missing stonework.

Xystós (top right). Bath complex (all other pictures)

In the evening, when it was cooling down a bit, we walked out to Kós town’s western archaeological site. On the bus out to the Asklepion we had seen the site of the stadium, which is very overgrown, so we weren’t holding out much hope for the rest of the digs – how wrong we were! Like the eastern site, the western excavations are freely available for everyone to wander about, so we were able to get a good close up look at the remains of the xystós (colonnade of an indoor running track) and a remarkably complete baths complex.

Baths

The mosaic floors in the bath complex had been covered with hessian and soil placed on top, presumably to preserve them from the sun and visitors’ footsteps. The hessian had lifted in a couple of places so we could have a glimpse of what lay underneath but it was the mosaic floors in what were probably houses that really stunned us. When we went to Ephesus we had to pay a separate entry fee to get to see the ‘Terrace Houses’ which had mosaics of a similar quality to the ones we saw, for free, here in Kós. And there were so many of them!

As well as the fabulous mosaics, several of the houses’ plastered walls still had the remains of paintwork on them. These mosaics and the painted walls were in plain view protected from the elements by metal roofs on stilts.

The paved road running alongside the baths complex, with a water pipe at the join of the road and the baths’ exterior wall is still in remarkably good condition, as is a second which runs from the baths to the houses and, presumably, on into the town and the agora.

Behind the baths complex and the residential houses is the odeon. A lot of restoration work has been done on this structure and it is apparently used for shows during the summer.

Hidden, almost out of sight, to the side of the odeon was perhaps the most colouful mosaic floor we have seen anywhere other than at Kurion in Cyprus.

And then it was dark. Had we realised how extensive the western site is and had we realised just how good its condition is, we would have left BV earlier to walk around the ruins. But they do say one should leave wanting more, and we will certainly return. Not just to take a longer look at the western site but also to visit the Casa Romana (the Roman House) for which we did not have time. Hopefully too when we return, the Kós Archaeological Museum will have reopened following renovation works. According to our guidebook it was supposed to have opened this year, but it would not surprise us to hear that funding has been delayed or reallocated to more urgent projects.

In the morning we would move on early to get to Sími, a passage of about 45 miles.

Kós, Greece