Asklepieion of Kos

The Asklepieia were sacred hospitals where the methods of Asklepieios were used for the treatment of the patients. To understand this better, we'll take a detour into the origin, life and studies of Asklepieios. Asklepieios was the son of Apollo and Koronis. Koronis was later unfaithful to Apollo and he had her thrown into the flames in his anger. She was holding their son Asklepieios at the time and Apollo snatched him from her to save him and appointed the centaur Hiron to care for him. Hiron taught medicine to many people but Asklepieios was his favourite student. Together they studied the medical properties of herbs and discovered miraculous cures for various ailments. Asklepieios thus became the god of medicine and was worshipped as such as he was able to cure both men and gods. To honour Asklepieios, people built the Asklepieia which were originally places of worship. As people flocked to these centres in hope of a cure from the god, it was natural that they would gradually progress to centres of healing and treatment...

Read More about Asklepieion of Kos