In ancient Greece, an asclepieion was a healing temple, sacred to the god Asclepius.
Alternative spelling: asklepieion
Starting about 300 BC, the cult of Asclepius grew very popular. His healing temples were called asclepieion; pilgrims flocked to them to be healed. They slept overnight and reported their dreams to a priest the following day. He prescribed a cure, often a visit to the baths or a gymnasium. Since snakes were sacred to Asclepius, they were often used in healing rituals. Non-poisonous snakes were left to crawl on the floor in dormitories like an asclepieion, where the sick and injured slept.
Hippocrates may have begun his medical career at an asclepieion.
The oldest known asclepieion was at Trikke (now known as Trikala) in Thessaly.
Pausanias remarked that, at the asclepieion of Titane in Sikyonia (founded by Alexanor, Asclepius' grandson), statues of Hygieia were covered by women's hair and pieces of Babylonian clothes. According to inscriptions, the same sacrifices were offered at Paros.
Besides treating patients, the Asklepieion also offered sanctuary to whoever asked for it, a prerogative that was maintained even during the difficult historical periods when the island was occupied.
The Asklepieion is perched on a hill with three terraces ("andiras" or structures) that are linked together with imposing stone staircases.
By this time the Asklepieion had already reached a period of decline because Christianity (which by this time prevailed) was in fierce conflict with the remnants of "idolatry".
To the west of the staircase leading up to the second terrace is a recess in the form of a small temple, in which there is a base of a statue (probably of Nero), dedicated by Gaius Stertinius Xenophon of Kos, personal doctor of the emperors Tiberius, Claudius and Nero.
On the second terrace are the remains of a large altar, the earliest structure in the Asklepieion.
To the south is preserved a building that has been identified with the priests' residence of the "abaton"- the place in which the sick waited for Asklepieion to appear to them in their dreams and heal them -, behind which can be seen the entrance to the sacred spring.
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