About Kos
Kos or Cos (Greek: Κως) is a Greek island of the group of the Dodecanese, next to the Gulf of Gökova/Cos. The island measures 40 by 8 kilometres (25 by 5 miles), and is 4 km (2 miles) from the coast of Bodrum, Turkey, and the ancient region of Caria.
The name Kos (Greek: Κῶς, genitive Κῶ)is first attested in the Iliad, and has been in continuous use since. Other ancient names include Meropis, Cea, and Nymphaea.
In the West, it was formerly known as Stancho, Stanchio, or Stinco, and in Ottoman and modern Turkish it is known as İstanköy, all from the Greek expression εις την Κω similar Stamboul and Stimpoli, Crete. Under the rule of the Knights
Hospitaller of Rhodes, it was known as Lango or Langò, presumably because of its length. In The Travels of Sir John Mandeville, the author misunderstands this, and treats Lango and Kos as distinct islands.
In Italian, it is known as Coo. A person from Kos is called a "Koan" in English. The word is also an adjective, as in "Koan goods".
Landmarks
Castles
The Byzantine Antimachia Castle
The island has a 14th-century fortress at the entrance to its harbour, erected in 1315 by the Knights Hospitaller, and another from the Byzantine period in Antimachia.
Ancient Agora
The ancient market place of Kos was considered one of the biggest in the ancient world. It was the commercial and commanding centre at the heart of the ancient city. It was organized around a spacious rectangular yard 50 metres (160 ft) wide and 300 metres (980 ft) long. It began in the Northern area and ended up south on the central road (Decumanus) which went through the city. The northern side connected to the city wall towards the entrance to the harbour. Here there was a monumental entrance. On the eastern side there were shops. In the first half of the 2nd century BC, the building was extended toward the interior yard. The building was destroyed in an earthquake in 469 AD.
Asclepeion
In ancient Greece and Rome, an asclepeion was a healing temple, sacred to the god Asclepius.
Tourists enjoying the panoramic view of the city from the Askleipion on Kos. Asclepius may first have been worshipped as a hero in Trikka, Thessaly, which ancient mythographers generally regarded as the place of his birth, but to date archaeological excavations have yet to uncover his sanctuary there.[1][2] Epidauros, on the other hand, was the first place to worship Asclepius as a god, beginning sometime in the 5th century 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.
