On our way back from Napflio we took a detour inland to visit Epidaurus. Here you can find the Sanctuary of Asclepius, a healing center from the 4th century, BC.

Very similar to Olympia (where we visited last summer), remnants of the temples were recovered and put into a museum for preservation.

People came from all over to be cured of all sorts of ailments. Their testimonies were chiseled into stone and left for posterity.

One in particular had me laughing, as the person had arrived complaining of indigestion, and was prescribed healthy food and lots of exercise. Very straightforward the Greeks.

A partial renovation helps imagining what was once there

Much of the site is in ruins, and a lot of imagination is required to see what it might once have been, but the views are amazing. They even had their own arena for running competitions, and it looked more imposing than the one we saw in Olympia.

The running arena

Then it was on to the star of Epidaurus, the theatre. Seating up to 14,000 people, the acoustics of this particular theatre were good enough to perfectly hear from the top rows with no artificial amplification necessary. We watched other tourists test this as one stood in the middle of the performance area and others would head upward to the top row. A normal speaking voice was all that was needed.

The 4th century Greek theatre
Built over 2,400 years ago, and still in use