Asclepeion

Athens, Greece

To the west of the Dionysos theatre and quite close to the cliff of the Acropolis lies the Asklepieion, the sanctuary of the healing god Asklepios dated to 420 BC. Functioning pretty much as hospitals, the asklepieia were of immense importance in ancient Greece, the most popular being the Asklepieion of Epidaurus. Besides the usual facilities for sheltering the pilgrims, the core structures of the Athenian complex were the temple of the god and the enkoimeterion (dormitory). That was a large two-storey stoa for the enkoimesis of the patients, a dream-like and rather hallucinatory state of sleep induction, practised in those shrines. While in hypnotic state, the patients waited to receive a dream vision of the god who would either give medical advice or even miraculously cure them. Votive offerings that came to light from the site often depict healed body parts. Characteristic examples are on display in the Acropolis Museum.

References:

Comments

Your name

Website (optional)


Address

Dionysiou Areopagitou 33, Athens, Greece
See all sites in Athens

Details

Founded: 420 BCE
Category: Prehistoric and archaeological sites in Greece

Rating

4.7/5 (based on Google user reviews)

Interesting Sites Nearby


Parthenon (0,1 km)
Acropolis (0,1 km)
Erechtheion (0,1 km)
Temple of Rome and Augustus (0,1 km)
Propylaea (0,2 km)
Temple of Athena Nike (0,2 km)
Odeon of Herodes Atticus (0,2 km)
Theatre of Dionysus (0,1 km)
Hadrian's Library (0,5 km)

User Reviews

Noelia Gato Flores (38 days ago)
It's a must have of your wish list. Great place with an incredible history. I recommend to visit it early in the morning, starting to be very busy from 11am and very packed you can't easy take a normal photo. Highly recommended.
Andrew Scott (43 days ago)
What an amazing place! One of the most iconic places in Greece. Pretty busy, but once you are in past the initial entrance it's a large area and the crowd can thin out. The view of Athens around it a breathtaking.
Nadia De Marco (2 months ago)
This place is amazing, one of my favorites in the world. Is not a difficult walk, taking the right time anyone can do it. The best time to go is during the sunset, you can see the sun setting on the city. Its just wonderful. ❤❤ I've been there twice and since it's really big is never too crowded. They close a little bit early than the time scheduled.
Katerina Katerina (2 months ago)
An amazing historical place for the explorers out there. A good history lesson and an amazing experience. I really recommend you to visit.
Ron Nicholas (2 months ago)
Perhaps the most important place to visit in Athens Greece. Get there as early as you can to beat some of the crowds or wait for a couple hours. It would be nice to be part of a guided tour. Or you can just casually listen in on other English guides. Count on spending two or three hours there. It also offers great views of the city.
Powered by Google

Featured Historic Landmarks, Sites & Buildings

Must-see historic sighs in Luxembourg
Photo from Flickr, copyright damiankania550

Historic Site of the week

Moszna Castle

The Moszna Castle is one of the best known monuments in the western part of Upper Silesia. The history of this building begins in the 17th century, although much older cellars were found in the gardens during excavations carried out at the beginning of the 20th century. Some of the investigators, including H. Barthel, claimed that those cellars could have been remnants of a presumed Templar castle, but their theory has never been proved. After World War II, further excavations discovered a medieval palisade.

The central part of the castle is an old baroque palace which was partially destroyed by fire on the night of April 2, 1896 and was reconstructed in the same year in its original form by Franz Hubert von Tiele-Winckler. The reconstruction works involved an extension of the residence. The eastern Neogothic-styled wing of the building was built by 1900, along with an adjacent orangery. In 1912-1914, the western wing was built in the Neo-Renaissance style. The architectural form of the castle contains a wide variety of styles, thus it can be generally defined as eclectic.

The height of the building, as well as its numerous turrets and spires, give the impression of verticalism. The whole castle has exactly ninety-nine turrets. Inside, it contains 365 rooms. The castle was twice visited by the German Emperor Wilhelm II. His participation in hunting during his stay at the castle was documented in a hand-written chronicle in 1911 as well as in the following year. The castle in Moszna was the residence of a Silesian family Tiele-Winckler who were industrial magnates, from 1866 until the spring of 1945 when they were forced to move to Germany and the castle was occupied by the Red Army. The period of the Soviet control caused significant damage to the castle's internal fittings in comparison to the minor damage caused by WWII.

After World War II the castle did not have a permanent owner and was the home of various institutions until 1972 when it became a convalescent home. Later it became a Public Health Care Centre for Therapies of Neuroses. Nowadays it can be visited by tourists since the health institution has moved to another building in the neighbourhood. The castle also has a chapel which is used as a concert hall. Since 1998 the castle housed a gallery in which works of various artists are presented at regular exhibitions.

Apart from the castle itself, the entire complex includes a park which has no precise boundaries and includes nearby fields, meadows and a forest. Only the main axis of the park can be characterised as geometrical. Starting from the gate, it leads along the oak and then horse-chestnut avenues, towards the castle. Further on, the park passes into an avenue of lime trees with symmetrical canals running along both sides of the path, lined with a few varieties of rhododendrons. The axis of the park terminates at the base of a former monument of Hubert von Tiele-Winckler. On the eastern side of the avenue there is a pond with an islet referred to by the owners as Easter Island. The islet is planted with needle-leaved shrubs and can be reached by a Chinese-styled bridge. The garden, as part of the whole park complex was restored slightly earlier than the castle itself. Preserved documents of 1868 state that the improvement in the garden's aesthetic quality was undertaken by Hubert von Tiele-Winckler.

Map Top Sights Tags Historical Periods City Guides About Us Sign Up Upload new site
© 2019 SpottingHistory.com. All rights reserved.