Asclepieion of Athens

The Asclepieion of Athens was the sanctuary built in honour of the gods Asclepius and Hygieia, located west of the Theatre of Dionysos and east of the Pelargikon wall on the southern escarpment of the Acropolis hill.

The sanctuary complex consisted of the temple and the altar of the god as well as two galleries, the Doric stoa which served as a katagogion for overnight patients in the Asklepieion and their miraculous (through dreams) healing by the god, and the Ionic Stoa that served as a dining hall and lodging for the priests of Asclepius and their visitors.

The circular well or pit, a deep hollow with polygonal masonry built into the cliff face, was accessed from the second floor of the Doric stoa and dates to the last quarter of the 5th century.

[11] In the Byzantine years (11th and 13th centuries) two smaller, single-aisled temples occupied the position of the basilica, while the latter of them functioned as the catholicon of a small monastery.

[12] Between the mid-fourth century BC and the age of Augustus, the priests of Asclepius were chosen by lot each year, in a set cycle based on the Athenian tribes.