Monday 6th October 2025 – Epidaurus, Greece

We would very happily return to Zaritsi Camping with its great position, good-sized pitches with plenty of shade, and a good restaurant.
A few drops of rain fell as we left Zaritsi but it was then dry until we passed Nafplio when it started to drizzle. I had spotted that there was an ancient Mycenaean bridge just off our route, so we called in to take a look. It is quite remarkable to see a bridge built in 1300 – 1200 BC still in perfect condition. It is said to be the oldest preserved bridge in Europe and carried an important Mycenaean road.
We moved on to the famous site of Epidaurus, or, more accurately, the Asclepius of Epidaurus. The ancient city of Epidaurus is actually on the coast but this is the sacred site dedicated to Asclepius. Asclepius was the Greek god of medicine, the son of Apollo, so this was an equivalent to Lourdes where the believers came to be cured. People arrived with a medical problem, bearing offerings, and were miraculously cured, writing in stone their thanks to the god. No doubt, they also paid for the privilege and donated money to the priests.
The site is messy with a mixture of Greek and Roman remains covering many centuries. The remains are often only a few courses of stone above ground level, which makes it difficult to imagine what the buildings would have looked like. We found it very confusing to start with but eventually managed to understand the site. The museum is small, limited in exhibits and old fashioned – it is really in need of modernisation and expansion. Likewise, although there are information boards for the major buildings, it would be better if they gave an idea of what the buildings would have looked like and how they fitted into the rest of the site. This is a major site, one of the most popular sites with visitors to Greece and it deserves better.
The theatre is the most complete construction in Epidaurus and is the first point of call for visitors. We left it to last and we were not disappointed. With a capacity of 13,000 – 14,000 it is in a wonderful state of preservation. In the 1980s, I attended a performance of an ancient Greek play here and I didn’t understand a word but the performance was very dramatic and it was possible to follow the plot from the acting. Melina Mercouri (singer, actor, activist and Greek Minister of Culture) was a special guest that night and, arriving by helicopter, she was warmly welcomed by the crowd. This was at the height of the ‘give us back our marbles’ (Parthenon marbles) calls made by Greece to Britain. This is still very relevant today and there may be moves to loan them to Greece where they could be displayed in the Athens museum where a special room has been reserved for them for many years.
On then to the coastal village of Epidaurus and Camping Nicholas 1, a rather constricted site but very close to another ancient Greek theatre.
Photos: The Mycenaean Bridge of Arkadiko; Epidaurus – a well beautifully constructed about 500 BC and used for many years to collect water for ritual purification of the pilgrims;  The Abaton where the pilgrims would have ritualised sleep and be visited by the god in the form of a sacred snake, waking up cured or understanding what remedy was needed; The magnificent theatre.