The Sanctuary, Museum, & Theater at Epidaurus
About
Although it's pleasant to wander through the shady Sanctuary of Asclepius, it's not at all easy to decipher the scant remains here -- visit the excavation museum first . As at Olympia, the Asklepion had accommodations for visitors, several large bathhouses, civic buildings, a stadium, a gymnasium, and several temples and shrines. The remains here are so meager that you may have to take this on faith, but try to find the round Tholos that you'll pass about halfway into the sanctuary. The famous 4th-century-B.C. architect Polykleitos, who built similar round buildings at Olympia and Delphi, was the architect here. If you wonder why the inner foundations of the Tholos are so convoluted and labyrinthine, you're in good company: Scholars still aren't sure what went on here, although some suspect that Asclepius's healing serpents lived in the labyrinth. Keep an eye out to see if the long-standing plans to reconstruct 7 of the 26 columns of the Tholos's Doric colonnade are underway when you visit. Next to the Tholos are the remains of two long stoas, where patients slept in the hope that Asclepius would reveal himself to them in a dream. Those who had dreams and cures dedicated the votive offerings and inscriptions now in the museum. At the entrance to the site, the Excavation Museum helps put some flesh on the bones of the confusing remains of the sanctuary. It has an extensive collection of architectural fragments from the sanctuary, including lovely acanthus flowers from the mysterious tholos. The terra-cotta body parts are votive offerings that show precisely what part of the anatomy was cured. The display of surgical implements and intimate body parts will send you away grateful that you didn't have to go under the knife here, although hundreds of inscriptions record the gratitude of satisfied patients. If you climb to the top of the ancient theater, seating 14,000, you can look down over the 55 rows of seats, divided into a lower section of 34 rows and an upper section with 21 rows. The upper seats were added when the original theater was enlarged to in the 2nd century B.C. The theater's acoustics are famous: You'll almost certainly see someone demonstrate how a whisper can be heard all the way from the round orchestra to the topmost row of seats. In 2007, researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology demonstrated that the theater's superb acoustics are due to its limestone seats! The seats deaden the low-frequency murmurs of the audience while magnifying the higher-frequency voices of the actors. Just as the stadium at Olympia brings out the sprinter in many visitors, the theater at Epidaurus tempts many to step stage center and test the acoustics by reciting poetry or bursting into song. Still, there's a respectful silence here when a performance of a classical Greek play begins, as the sun sinks behind the orchestra and the first actor steps onto the stage. If you're a theater buff, be sure to take in the Epidaurus Festival Museum, near the entrance to the site, with its displays of props, costumes, programs, and memorabilia from past performances. It's usually open daily from May 1 until September 30 (when the site is open), and until 9pm on performance nights; free admission. Be sure to check the opening hours as soon as you arrive, if not before; they change unpredictably.
