Epidavros lies on the northeast coast of the Peloponnese, and the name covers three places: an ancient sanctuary inland, and two small coastal towns.
The sanctuary belonged to Asclepius, god of medicine, and for centuries it was the most respected healing centre in the ancient world. Its theatre, built in the fourth century BC, is the best preserved in Greece and is still used every summer. The whole site has been on the UNESCO World Heritage list since 1988.
On the coast, Palaia Epidavros was the ancient city itself — it has a second, smaller theatre and a Roman settlement lying under shallow water. Nea Epidavros, further north, is where the first Greek constitution was signed in 1822.
History & Culture
A hospital run by a god
The cult of Asclepius took hold here in the sixth century BC, and the sanctuary grew into something between a temple and a hospital.
Patients arrived, washed at the sacred spring, fasted, and made an offering. At night they lay down in the Avaton, a long enclosed portico, to sleep and wait for the god to appear in a dream. This was called enkoimesis — incubation. Priests interpreted the dream the next morning and prescribed the cure.
The Iamata, inscribed stone records of successful treatments, were displayed on the site so that new arrivals could read them. They describe herbal remedies, baths, diet, exercise, and in some cases operations. One inscription in the museum records the cure of a man called Marcus Julius Apellas, who came from Asia Minor in the second century AD and wrote down what he was told to do.
Because the treatment was understood to work on the mind as well as the body, the sanctuary included a stadium, a gymnasium, baths, a library and a guesthouse of more than 150 rooms. More than two hundred similar healing sanctuaries were founded around the eastern Mediterranean, modelled on this one.
The theatre
The theatre was part of the treatment. Ancient doctors are said to have recommended tragedy for patients suffering from anxiety and comedy for those suffering from melancholy.
It was built in the fourth century BC and enlarged later, and it seats around thirteen thousand people in two tiers. Its acoustics are famous: a coin dropped on the stage can be heard from the highest row. Nobody has fully explained why it works so well — the shape of the bowl and the limestone seats both seem to play a part.
The Tholos and the temples
The Tholos, a circular building of about 360–320 BC attributed to Polykleitos the Younger, is often described as the finest circular structure in Greek architecture. Its purpose is still argued over.
The Temple of Asclepius was built between 380 and 370 BC by an architect named Theodotos. A temple of Artemis stood nearby.
The museum
The Archaeological Museum sits inside the site, between the theatre and the sanctuary. It was founded in 1902, which makes it one of the oldest museums in Greece, and it holds what came out of the long excavation carried out by Panagis Kavvadias and the Archaeological Society between 1881 and 1928.
Most of the original sculpture went to the National Archaeological Museum in Athens and has been replaced here by plaster casts. What is here in the original is more unusual: the inscriptions.
They include the building accounts of the sanctuary — how many blocks were cut at the quarry, how many were delivered, who did the work and what they were paid. They also include the Iamata, a hymn to Apollo and Asclepius composed around 280 BC, and a collection of surgical instruments.
Villages & Inland
Palaia Epidavros and its theatre
Palaia Epidavros was the ancient city — the harbour, the administration and the everyday life that the sanctuary depended on. It is now a small coastal town with a curved bay and tavernas along the water.
On the Nisi peninsula at the edge of the town stands the Little Theatre of Ancient Epidaurus, built in the fourth century BC and dedicated to Dionysus. It belonged to the city rather than to the sanctuary, and it worked for about seven centuries. When archaeologists found it in 1971 it was completely buried under an olive grove. Restoration is still going on.
A Mycenaean cemetery lies within the town as well.
Nea Epidavros and the first constitution
Nea Epidavros, about twelve kilometres north, was a village called Piada until the 1820s. Its old quarter climbs a steep hillside above the coast, below a medieval fortress.
In December 1821 the delegates of the revolutionary Greeks met here for the First National Assembly. On 1 January 1822 they adopted the country's first constitution, the Provisional Regime of Greece, and declared Greek independence. The village was renamed in honour of the assembly the following year.
Beaches
The coast here is quiet, and the beaches serve the two towns rather than drawing crowds.
At Palaia Epidavros, small pebble and sand coves lie close to the harbour, sheltered and easy to reach on foot.
At Nea Epidavros, Vagionia and Kalamaki are sandy and shallow, with clear water and few facilities.
Swimming over a Roman villa
The most unusual thing to do here is at Kalymnios beach, in the bay of Agios Vlassios at Palaia Epidavros.
A Roman farm estate lies on the seabed about two metres down — close enough that a swimmer with a mask can see the foundations of the buildings, the paved floors, and the enormous storage jars still in place. It has been a protected archaeological site since 1998, and conservation work has been carried out with an Italian team since 2017.
The site has never been formally excavated, so what you swim over is essentially still buried.
Activities
Two festivals use the two ancient theatres, and they are the best reason to time a visit.
The Athens Epidaurus Festival brings ancient drama to the great theatre in July and August. This is what the building was made for, and hearing it fill with sound after dark is a different experience from walking round it by day.
The Little Theatre at Palaia Epidavros hosts its own summer programme of music and performance, on a much more intimate scale, with the sea directly below.
Tickets for both need to be booked separately from the site ticket, and well in advance.
Where to Stay
Prices shown per night for a sample 3-night stay. Rates and availability vary by season — select your dates for live pricing.
Practical information
Getting there
Epidavros is about 150 km from Athens, two to two and a half hours by car via the Isthmus of Corinth. KTEL buses run from Athens, but not often — check the timetable before relying on one, particularly around a performance. Nafplio, about 30 km away, is the usual base.
Tickets and hours
One ticket covers the archaeological site and the museum. Hours are much longer from April to October than in winter, and the site is closed on Tuesdays. The Little Theatre at Palaia Epidavros is a separate site with its own arrangements. Check current times and prices before you go.
How to visit
Allow an hour and a half to two hours for the sanctuary, the theatre and the museum.
Do the site first and the museum afterwards. The inscriptions make far more sense once you have walked past the buildings they describe.
Test the acoustics yourself. Stand at the top and have someone speak from the centre of the orchestra. Early morning, before the coaches arrive, is the only time this is possible.
If you are staying on the coast, the Little Theatre and the sunken villa are both at Palaia Epidavros and easily combined into an afternoon.
Good to know
The sanctuary is open ground with little shade, and the theatre steps are steep and worn. Bring water and wear shoes with grip.
For the sunken villa you need only a mask and snorkel; the water is shallow and calm most of the summer. Do not touch or move anything.
Palaia Epidavros and Nea Epidavros are separate towns about twelve kilometres apart — check which one your accommodation is actually in. Both are small and fill up around festival dates.
Epidavros— been there?Tell others what you saw.
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