Join Thor and me as we wander the charming harbor town of Kos, where history and natural beauty flourish.
NOTE: Since our recent trip to Greece to research more settings for my novel-in-progress, THE ARIADNE DISCONNECT, Thor and I knew we had to return to this magical region. My first entry in this new blog series posted here on Saturday, 10/20/2018. It gives an overview of our rambles from Athens to seven islands in the Dodecanese and Cyclades groups, ending our ferry-hopping pilgrimage on the anciently sacred island of Delos.
The only “big city” on Kos island was first inhabited in the Early Bronze Age (2300-2000 BC), and became an important trading port during the Minoan and Mycenaean periods (2nd millenium BC), and then later during Archaic and Classical times (7th-5th century BC). The fertile island was rich enough to send 30 ships to the Trojan War. Today it is still famous as the birthplace of Hippocrates (460-377 BC), the “father of modern medicine,” and Thor was eager to visit the Plane Tree of Hippocrates in Kos Town.
As we parked on the outskirts of the town center and started wandering the pleasant, tree-shaded lanes, we realized that the modern town curves around and embraces remnants of all these ancient periods, in addition to early Byzantine, Medieval Knights, Ottoman Turks, and Italian occupations.
We learned that in this realm of “the earth-shaking god” Poseidon, the town suffered many earthquakes over the centuries that would level buildings and spur new reconstructions. The latest major earthquake, in 1933 AD, destroyed the modern city but revealed many of the historic footings. The occupying Italians and later groups have accomplished restorations, but there are many sites awaiting attention. We first explored the ancient Agora (top photo), first built in 366 BC, and at 350 meters long one of the largest in the ancient world.
Most of the site consists of footings of temples and other structures, with beautifully carved marble components scattered around.
An imposing gateway was constructed after the 142 AD earthquake, joining the agora to the harbor.
Detail of the top shows Thor’s favorite “Lego” projections to hold joined pieces together.
There was also an imposing structure that may have honored a cult of the current emperor. It may have looked like this:
There were temples to Aphrodite and Herakles, as well as this altar to one of my favorites, Dionysos. He’s prominent in the mythic undercurrents of my novel-in-progress.
Moving along toward the harbor, we passed this market area near the archaeological museum filled with treasures. (We’ll explore it in an upcoming post.)
The Medieval castle of the Knights of St. John, at the waterfront, had been damaged in yet another earthquake, so we weren’t able to walk along its ramparts.
A bridge over the harbor drive led to the barred gates with gargoyles and the coat-of-arms of Fernandez de Heredia, the Grand Master from 1376 to 1396 AD.
As always, there is a resident cat, who enjoyed being petted.
At the other end of the bridge is the courtyard where the Plane Tree of Hippocrates spreads its branches. The original tree was planted here by Hippocrates himself 2400 years ago, and successive trees are clones of the original, saplings planted to replace those that have died. The present tree is said to be about 560 years old.
An adjacent fountain was built in 1792 by the Turkish governor, adapting an ancient crypt. The recent earthquake damaged that, too, and the building is closed.
Thor had a mission at the Hippocrates tree: A former student, paleobotanist Rich Barclay who works at the Smithsonian, had learned that Thor would be visiting the tree. Since Hippocrates founded the schools of medicine that evolved into our modern-day system, as well as creating the Hippocratic Oath for doctors, medical centers around the world have planted saplings from this tree. Rich is doing a study to compare leaves from these cloned trees that are growing in diverse areas around the world, to see how growing conditions affect the leaves. Before our trip to Kos, Rich didn’t have a set of leaves from the original tree, so he was delighted to receive the leaves that Thor gathered from “ground zero.” We’re eagerly waiting to hear the results of the study, and the genetic confirmation that the trees at the medical centers are in fact clones of the original!
Thor had prepared an envelope and papers for pressing the leaves. I love the way that science is the cooperative work of dedicated people over the centuries!
Join us next week in our visit to the restored Roman Villa of Casa Romana in Kos Town!
*****
You will find The Rambling Writer’s blog posts here every Saturday. Sara’s latest novel from Book View Cafe is available in print and ebook: The Ariadne Connection. It’s a near-future thriller set in the Greek islands. “Technology triggers a deadly new plague. Can a healer find the cure?” The novel has received the Chanticleer Global Thriller Grand Prize and the Cygnus Award for Speculative Fiction. Sara has recently returned from another research trip in Greece and is back at work on the sequel, The Ariadne Disconnect. Sign up for her quarterly email newsletter at www.sarastamey.com
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