Treasures of Archaeological Museum of Epidaurus Photo Essay
After a heart warming tour of the ice covered frozenancient theatre of Epidaurus we visited the Archaeological Museum of Epidaurus. The giant Epidaurus Theatre made between 5th to 3rdBC remained forgotten and only in late 19th century this ancient theatre was excavated.
Along with the discovery of the theatre many more tools, artefacts and ruins were found scattered around the place. Soon the need for a museum came up. This Archaeological Museum was constructed in the early 20th century to shelter the restored monuments and the findings of the excavations in the area.
The museum was built by Cavvadias during the period 1902-1909.
Archaeological Museum of Epidaurus
It is such an elegant home for the treasures collected from the ruins around Epidaurus Theatre and the Sanctuary of Asklepios. Small and compact, it is easy to navigate from room to room in the museum.
We had allotted just about an hour to see the museum as we had planned to set off on the next road trip to Nafplio. The time was more than sufficient. Since it was the peak of winters, (we visited on a 31st of Dec) there was hardly any queue for tickets. This is one of the advantages of touring European countries during off season, I am sure you will agree.
The museum has just 3 large rooms. We sailed from room to room without encountering any crowd around the exhibits. Here are some of the highlights that we saw.
First Room
In the very first room we sighted the ancient metal instruments recovered from the ruins of Sanctuary of Asklepios of 3rdBC. Such crude ones! I dread to think how and on whom they were used. BTW first Anesthesia was carried out in 1846! Several slabs of ruins with inscriptions too are on display here.
Medical equipment, tools
Second Room
There are rows of headless statues and heads in the second room. Hard to match which went with which body? Two of the impressive statues in their near original state were that of Asklepios and Aphrodite.
Plaster cast of statue of Asklepios. He leans on a rod, with a snake wound over it – found in Complex of Asklepios Bath and Library. Asklepios, healing god and son of Greek God Apollo.
Several headless statues and heads found – which head goes with which torso?
Statue of armed Aphrodite – she wears a chiton, a strap over her shoulder indicates she carried something. She would hold a spear in left hand, and a helmet in right – indicating military character of the Goddess -as mentioned in a note there.
Third Room
The 3rd room had columns and other architectural parts of the ancient temples and Roman sculptures.
There is a display of side section of Propylaia. It was the entrance building to the Sanctuary of Asklepois, a sort of formal entrance where the roads from ancient cities of Epidaurus and Argos terminate. The building dates from late 4thBC to early 3rdBC. This ancient building was discovered by Cavvadias in 1893. After restoration work by him, this section of the building is displayed in the museum.
The construction consisted of Corinthian column capitals, Corinthian frieze with rosettes and lion heads of the spouts.
Thymele in Sanctuary of Asklepios
Thymele – the largest round building of antiquity – was the zenith of development of simple architectural style. It would have been wonder of wonders had it existed even today.
Architect of Thymele was Polykleitos of Argos. The monument was preserved intact till 6thAD. After that it got destroyed in a massive earthquake.
During middle ages it was reduced to ruins due to merciless stripping of the building materials for byzantine churches and Turkish mosques.
Thymele was rediscovered in 1880s by Archaeological Society of Athens. It is now included in their restoration project.
Timing and Tickets to Epidaurus Museum
Open on all days. Winters: 8.30AM to 3PM, Summers: 8AM to 7PM. It is at a walking distance from Epidaurus Theatre.
Tickets cost 12 euros. Visit to both Epidaurus Theatre and this museum is included in this ticket.
You can check this for – Timings and Tickets.
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Love love love Greece. It’s such a beautiful, ancient country and i miss it. Loved your post
This museum looks like the perfect blend of in-depth architecture and archaeology history that I so love to dive in. I’m fascinated with Greek history and mythology, which this museum brings to life. It seems as though this museum is very in-depth and more captivating than other traditional museums. I’ll check it out when I’m in the area.
I loved such archaeological sites in Greece and saw so many excavated ruins from 3rd century B.C.. It would be great to see this Archaeological Museum of Epidaurus and the giant Epidaurus Theatre which has ancient past since 5th to 3rdBC. 12 Euros entrance for both museum and theatre is not very high price.
Although small this looks like an interesting museum to wander around and explore. Good tip about coming in winter to avoid long lines and crowds. Surprised to see it’s pretty pricey for such a small place.
Great post!! Normally I wouldn’t think of visiting a museum during any of my trips but a museum that showcases the remnants of Ancient Greece seems worth the time. I am yet to travel to Greece but I would love to add this museum in my future itinerary.
I do not remember which museum I once had visited in Athens but I remember seeing a lot of headless figures too and it was uncanny, haha. To be honest, I’m not the biggest fan of visiting museums in general but Greece has so much history that one is truly intrigued and its the obvious thing to do. Interesting that the remains were excavated only in the late 19th century and remained forgotten for so long!
Wow, that medical equipment looks a bit dodgy! Hopefully it’s not in use today 😀 Aphrodite is such a babe – she sounds like a modern woman prepared for anything, even though she hails from ancient times!! The museum looks interesting, but I bet it was cold!!
Wow! Those columns are no joke. I always think places like this are so hard to wrap my head around; everything is so ancient and so thought out. (And I totally agree—off season travel is the best!)
wow! Lucky you…
Fascinating displays in the Epidaurus Museum which I havent been to yet on my travels in Greece. The room I would like to check out the most is the third room as I am more interested in Roman history than Greek History (not sure why). Where ever I travel in Europe to places which had Roman influence (oh, and North Africa too) I always try and see the historical places. However I haven’t seen anything Roman in Greece yet so maybe I need to come here and check out the sculptures.