Asklepion

In ancient Greece and Rome was a healing temple, sacred to the god Asclepius. Asclepius was probably first worshipped as a hero in Trikka, Thessaly, which ancient mythographers generally regarded as the place of his birth. Epidauros, on the other hand, was the first place to worship Asclepius as a god, beginning sometime in the 400's BC. The asclepieion at Epidaurus is both extensive and well preserved.

There is an asclepieion located on the south slopes of the Acropolis of Athens which dates to around 420 BC. Starting around 350 BC, the cult of Asclepius became increasingly popular. Pilgrims flocked to asclepieia to be healed. They slept overnight ("incubation") 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-venomous snakes were left to crawl on the floor in dormitories where the sick and injured slept. Asclepeia provided carefully controlled spaces conducive to healing and fulfilled several of the requirements of institutions created for healing. In the Asclepieion of Epidaurus, three large marble boards dated to 350 BC preserve the names, case histories, complaints, and cures of about 70 patients who came to the temple with a problem and shed it there.