Epidaurus, the Unesco’s World Heritage Archaeological Site was named after its third ruler, Epidaurus, and is believed to be the place where Asclepius was born, based on Hesiod. This reason was sufficient to create the sacred Asclepieion in Epidaurus, the ‘mother’ of medicine, where god Apollo was worshiped as he was the father of Asclepius.
Epidaurus is a semi-mountainous area and was not famous in ancient times for agriculture and livestock farming, which did not particularly benefit from its morphological situation. Thus, the inhabitants of Ancient Epidaurus developed the sea trade in the Aegean open sea and helped to develop the area via the port that they created. Mycenaean tombs have been found in Epidaurus, which testify to their great relationship with the Mycenaeans.
According to Pausanias, the theater of Ancient Epidaurus was built by Polyclitus the Newer, for the entertainment of the patients. It has 13,000 seats and is divided into 2 sections. One section consists of 21 rows of seats while the other section consists of 34 rows for priests and rulers. The ancient theater of Epidaurus is considered to be the most perfect ancient Greek theater with regard to acoustics and aesthetics. Moreover, two national meetings took place in Epidaurus during the Greek Revolution. The exquisite acoustics of the theater helped nowadays to create the yearly biggest festival in Greece, where celebrities such as Maria Callas, Katina Paxinou, Thanassis Vengos and others were protagonists not to mention that it constitutes a reference point for the artistic world.
Both the ancient theater and the sacred Asclepieion in Epidaurus, a Unesco’s World Heritage Archaeological Site, were places for gods’ worship, entertainment and mysticism.
Good to Know
Perfect Holiday
Discover new lands, admire mythical monuments, travel the world and live the life of your dreams today!
