Archaeologists May Have Found the Lost Open-Air Sanctuary of Asclepius in Epidaurus, Greece

Archaeologists in Greece say they have identified the lost open-air sanctuary of Asclepius, the Greek god of medicine, in the city center of Epidaurus. The University of Athens Epidaurus Excavation Project reported the identification after a review of more than 50 years of excavation finds. A 4th-century BC fountain complex, a sacred well and a pottery fragment bearing part of the god’s name sit at the center of the case.

A sanctuary the ancient writers described, but nobody could place

Epidaurus is best known for the Asclepieion, the huge healing sanctuary outside the ancient town where pilgrims came to seek cures. The newly identified site is a different place. It is an open-air sacred area in the city center of Epidaurus, and for generations it has stayed a gap on the map.

The ancient travel writer Pausanias, who wrote in the 2nd century AD, described this area. He said it held statues of Asclepius and of his wife Epione. His account has guided scholars for centuries, but no one had pinned the sanctuary to a spot in the ground.

What the excavations found near the small theater

Excavations near the small theater uncovered a monumental fountain complex from the 4th century BC. It had Ionic columns and a basin for collecting water. A well stood at the center of the sacred area, and an underground channel connected it to the fountain’s reservoir.

The team also recovered votive offerings, the kind of gifts worshippers left for a deity. Among the finds was a ceramic fragment carrying part of Asclepius’s name. According to the University of Athens excavation records, these pieces together make the identification plausible.

Prof. Vassilis Lambrinoudakis of the University of Athens evaluated the results on 9 November 2026. The report presents the work as a collective analysis of the findings gathered over more than half a century.

A statue that may show Epione

The team found a marble statue of a woman in long garments, slightly larger than life size. It may represent Epione, the wife of Asclepius. The article is careful on this point: no inscription definitively proves the statue shows her. Treat the identification as a possibility, not a settled fact.

An older cult building near the Tholos

The review also looked at the main Asclepieion. Near the 4th-century BC Tholos, archaeologists found the remains of an older building from the late 7th century BC. It has a rock-cut basement, dark red plaster walls and a pebble floor. If the dating holds, the cult of Asclepius at Epidaurus may be about 60 years older than researchers thought.

The later builders appear to have kept the older structure on purpose. The article calls this “a conscious effort to maintain the same religious tradition,” which suggests the people of Epidaurus valued the continuity of the site.

A mysterious underground room

In Building B at the Asclepieion, the team studied an underground space that the Romans later expanded. It has niches made from reused fragments, openings that let in midday sunlight, and the lower parts of four large amphorae set into the floor. The researchers think it is possibly linked to a mystery cult. They have not yet determined what rituals took place there.

Why it matters, and what is still open

If the identification holds, scholars gain a fixed location for a sanctuary that an ancient author described but that no one could find. It also adds a second, earlier layer to the story of how healing worship grew at Epidaurus. Several points still carry hedges: the Epione statue, the mystery-cult link and the exact rituals. The source article cites no journal paper or DOI, so further publication from the Athens team would help test the claims.

Sources: National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Epidaurus Excavation Project; reported by Arkeonews (Oguz Buyukyildirim, 13 November 2026). Image: the Tholos and the remains of an earlier Archaic building with an underground chamber at the sanctuary of Asclepius in Epidaurus. Credit: National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Epidaurus Excavation Project.