5th day of our trip.



VISIT TO THE ASKLEPIEION

 

The day is wonderful today, and our plans are to visit the ancient ruins of the Asklepieion .

It's about 3.5 km north-west of Kos on the slopes of a low hill.

 

So, after breakfast we drive there to see the famous ruins before we dash out to the beautiful beaches of Kos.

 

The Asklepieion enjoys a superb view over the sea and the coast of Asia Minor opposite.

Many tourists are gathered here. Some of them come from the city of Kos on their bicycles, other by coaches, or the small touris train which starts from Kos and takes tourists around the city- something like the hop on hop off thing - and others by their rented cars.

 

The history of the Asklepieion.

It was discovered at the beginning of the 20th century by the German archeologist R . Herzog.

The site was subsequently excavated by Italian archeologists, who also restored the monument and gave it its present form.

 

The lowest terrace was bounded on the west, north and east sides by a stoa in the shape of the Greek letter P (only the foundations can be seen now) to the east was a complex of Roman thermae (baths) dating from the 3rd century AD, of which remains of wall-paintings and floor mosaics survive.

 

On the second terrace are the remains of a large altar, the earliest structure in the Asklepieion. It was built about the middle of the 4th c BC.

To the west of the altar is the earliest temple of Asklepios. To the south is preserved a building that has been identified with the priests' residence or the "abaton" -the place where sick waited for Asklepios to appear to them in their dreams and heal them .

To the east of the altar is a small Roman temple in the Corinthian order dating from the 2nd c AD.

 

On the third and final terrace stands the large Doric temple of Asklepios, which dates from the 2nd c BC and is enclosed by a P-shaped stoa.

All that now survives of this church is an Early Christian capital, once used as an Altar.

Much of the temple superstructure was quarried by the Knights of the Order of St John of Jerusalem to be used in the construction of the medieval castle.

 

 

We spend much time down the beautiful beach with Crystal turquoise colour. This is our 2nd day at the beach, and luckily the water is not so cold today.

 

We decide to get in the car and move on towards the city of Kos and find a nice restaurant . We decide to get the road that is nearer to the beach instead of the central road the one we used, to come here.

We wanted to find somewhere nice to sit and enjoy lunch......but as we were approaching we found nothing that suited us. We saw tourists on their bikes getting down the beach, and us seeking to find something decent to eat.

 

I was so disappointed when I realized that we had almost reached the city and I got angry with myself because I was the one who suggested that we move on and explore the place.

We could have stayed there where we were because there were nice restaurants and we could get down the beach later on after lunch.

 

The result was that we bought fruit on the way to the hotel and decided to stay indoors and relax instead.

I was disappointed but I knew that our dinner would be up at Zia and watch the sunset again .

 

We got at Zia village at about 7pm. We bought some gifts for our children and then we went to the restaurant.

 

The vendors here sell the famous KANELADA.

Kanella is the Greek name for cinnamon, so they call it Kanelada, and it is something like a syrup they sell in beautiful bottles.

 

I noticed that they had it in two colors, red and brown. You see, red is more attractive, so I found out that they use candy colour in the syrup to make it more attractive for people to buy.

I hate artificial flavour and preferred buying the brown one though, after I tasted it to see what I was about to buy.

It tasted good and refreshing, so we bought a bottle for us as well .

 

The night finished with a nice dinner watching the sun setting behind the mountains of Turkey.

What more could I expect from this trip here!

Tomorrow morning we fly back to Athens.

We have just 2 weeks before we leave for our next destination in Europe this time.