European medicine was born at the sanctuary of Asclepius in Epidaurus in the 6th century BC. The site included temples dedicated to Apollo and Asclepius, as well as buildings used for healing rituals. Patients would undergo purification and seek cures through diet, exercise, and incubation, before the sanctuary was abandoned in the 5th century AD. Mycenaean civilization flourished from the 16th-13th centuries BC, building strong citadels and palaces. The Lion Gate and massive walls of Mycenae reveal the influence of this civilization on later European cultures.

1. Where was the European
medicine born?

2. In Epidaurus since prehistoric era
(2800-1800 π.Χ.)
• There a small sanctuary
of a goddess developed
out to a cult of Apollo
(Maleatas),
• And finally during the
6th century BC to a
cult of Asklepios, the
god of medicine

3. What are the principal monuments of
the site?
Tholosthe Stadium

4. • the temple of Asklepios,
the Tholos and the
Theatre. The vast site,
with its temples and
hospital buildings
devoted to its healing
gods Apollo, Asclepios,
and Hygeia , provides
valuable insight into the
healing cults of Greek
and Roman times

5. What was the cure process like?

6. • The healing center was a
spring/φρέαρ nearby the god’s
altar in Tholos where the
supposedly incurable patients
were purified. Then they spent
several days having a special
diet,, exercising to the nearby
stadium and sleeping at the
Enkoimeterion, where the sick
awaited their cure. The
purification was resembling to
the god’s and nature’s
revitalization and the sleep was
a kind of death- a returning into
the mother Earth the origin of
life and reborn.
•The temple

7. How long did the sanctuary
prosper?

8. • Despite pillaging by Sulla in
87 BC and by Cilician
pirates, the restored
sanctuary prospered during
the Roman period and even
after the prohibition of the
ancient religion by the
Christians in 426.A.C.The
large amount of visitors led
to the building of a “hotel ”
called katagogeion between
the shrine and the theatre
katagogeion (dormitories for patients, their
companion and pilgrims

9. But why Epidaurus is famous of its
theatre?

10. • Because the theatre,
rightfully is considered one
of the purest masterpieces
of Greek architecture for its
unique acoustics
• and because of its famous
festival .Thanks to this
festival the Epidaurus
theatre has seen the rebirth
of ancient drama more than
half a century ago.
Performances are in Greek
with English subtitles

11. • The theatre was built by
the architect Polykleitos
the Younger in 340-330
B.C. and restored in 1954.
It can set up to about
13,000 people. The
seating section consists of
55 rows of seats divided
into two by a gangway or
promenade / diazoma.

12. • Between the edge of this
and the first row of seats
is a shallow channel for
rain water. Between the
stage buildings and the
supporting walls of the
theatre seats are two
impressive gateways.
• In front of the theatre is the
central area, or orchestra.
This is a circular area where
the chorus performed.

13. • On the far side of the
orchestra were the
stage buildings,
including a raised area
where the actors
performed. This was
known as
the proscenium.

14. Many stars have
performed on
these proscenium
as
Maria
Callas,Katina
Paxinou, Peter
Hall, Pina Bausch,
Nureyev, Fonteyn,
Martha Graham,
Kevin Spacey and
Alicia Alonso.

15. Mycenae

16. Who was the femme fatale of Ancient
Greece?

17. • Helen of Troy. She was
who caused the Trojan
war and the Ulysses’
adventures. So she
inspired the Homeric
epics, the Iliad and the
Odyssey, the influence of
which upon European
literature and the arts has
been profound for more
than three millennia.
• As for Mycenae was
indissolubly linked with
the Homeric epics

18. And why is Mycenae so important to
the European civilization?

19. • Mycenae and Tiryns
represent the peak of the
Mycenaean civilization,
which laid the foundations
for the evolution of later
European cultures and had
a profound effect on the
development of classical
Greek architecture and
urban design, and
consequently also on
contemporary cultural
forms.

20. When did Mycenaean civilization
flourished?

21. • In the late Bronze Age
(16th century BC). The
peak of the Mycenaean
civilization came in1400-
1120 BC when strong
citadels and elaborate
palaces were built.
Towards the end of this
period a script, known as
Linear B, came into use;
the language used has
been shown to be an
early form of Greek,
confirming that the
Mycenaeans were Greek
speakers

22. Which is the secret of the wall?
The lion gate.

23. • The Palace was
constructed on the
summit of the hill and
surrounded by massive
cyclopean walls with an
amazing main entrance
the lion gate. The walls
powerful secret was an
underground reservoir
fortified in case that the
town was besieged. The
structure is admirable
and resembles to the
modern water provider
systems in a town. The Palace

24. Do you like horror films?
• Then pay a visit to the tombs you may meet a
horrible woman

25. • A series of behive tombs
were built during the
Mycenaean period: the
so-called Tomb of
Aegisthos (c. 1500 BC),
the Lion Tholos Tomb
(c. 1350 BC), the Tomb
of Clytemnestra (c. 1220
BC), culminating in the
Treasury of Atreus, at
some distance from the
others. Four large
buildings, believed to
have been royal
workshops, were built in
the 13th century BC in
the vicinity of Grave
Circle B

26. In which way can one gain an eternal
life?

27. • The quantities of gold
and carefully worked
artefacts found in the
graves indicate that
their residents were of
royal lineage . The
custom of clothing
leaders in gold masks
was aimed to insure the
everlasting life.

28. But come on! Do not waste much time in
…graves! Enjoy a walk in the nearby castle town,
Nafplion

29. We wish you an enjoyable and
edifying visit to Argolis

30. bibliography
• http://odysseus.culture.gr/h/3/gh351.jsp?obj
_id=2374
• http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/491
• http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/941
• http://www.greekfestival.gr/gr/venue12-
arxaio-theatro-epidavroy.htm