Epidaurus Ancient Theatre

The Ancient Theatre of Epidaurus lies in the Argolid, in the eastern Peloponnese, within the Sanctuary of Asklepios, the god of medicine. The sanctuary grew from a local cult of Apollo Maleatas into the leading healing centre of the Greek world from the 6th century BC, with pilgrims arriving to seek cures through ritual sleep and dreams. The theatre was designed by the architect Polykleitos the Younger in the late 4th century BC, around 340-300 BC, and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site together with the sanctuary.

The auditorium, built into the hillside, has 55 rows of limestone seating, in two tiers, divided by a diazoma, or horizontal walkway. It seated about 14,000 spectators, and a further twelve rows were added in the Roman period. The orchestra, a perfect circle of beaten earth about 20 metres in diameter, is marked at its centre by a circular stone, the thymele. The acoustics are remarkable: sound from the orchestra carries clearly to the top rows, a result of the geometry of the seating and the way limestone filters low-frequency noise, according to modern acoustic studies. The stage building, or skene, has largely disappeared, but its foundations and the entrances, or parodoi, remain.

The sanctuary also includes the circular Tholos, a masterpiece of the 4th century BC, the Abaton where patients slept, a stadium, baths and a small museum. The Archaeological Museum displays votive offerings, surgical instruments, inscriptions recording cures and architectural fragments from the Tholos and the temple of Asklepios.

The theatre was uncovered in the 1880s by the Greek Archaeological Society under Panagiotis Kavvadias, and restoration in the 1950s to 1960s refurbished the lower seats and parodoi. Since 1955 the theatre has hosted performances, and the Athens Epidaurus Festival stages ancient drama here each summer, so it is both a monument and a working venue. A visit takes about 1 to 2 hours, plus time for the museum.