Archaeological Museum of Epidaurus
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| Established | 1902 |
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| Location | Epidaurus, Argolis, Peloponnese, Greece. |
| Type | Archaeological museum |
Archaeological Museum of Epidaurus is a museum in Epidaurus, in Argolis on the Peloponnese peninsula, Greece. The museum, noted for its reconstructions of temples and its columns and inscriptions, was established in 1902 and opened in 1909 to display artifacts unearthed in the ancient site of Epidaurus in the surrounding area.
The ancient site of Epidaurus was dedicated to healing and the gods Apollo and Asklepios. The oldest area of the site is a Mycenaean sanctuary dedicated to a healing goddess, which stands on the Kynortion hill; it was founded in the sixteenth century BC on a ruined settlement of the Early and Middle Bronze Age (2800-1800 BC). It lasted until the eleventh century BC, and then in about 800 BC it was rededicated to Apollo and the area is now known as the Apollo sanctuary.
The other main sanctuary, the Asclepeion sanctuary of Epidaurus, was first studied by the French Scientific Expedition of the Peloponnese in 1829. In 1870, Panagiotis Kavadias of the Greek Archaeological Society began excavating the site, and over the decades that followed discovered an extensive array of artifacts. The bulk of the collection was unearthed mostly by Karvadias in two main sanctuaries of Asklepios and Apollo in Epidaurus, the older sanctuary of Apollo Maleatas on Mt. Kynortion and the later Asclepeion in the plain. The Asclepeion, the larger of the sanctuaries was known for its healing rituals and for hosting sports.The size of the partial reconstructions of the most important monuments of the Asklepeion and growing collection meant that between 1902 and 1909, Kavadias built the Museum of Epidaurus to store the finds. The sculptures which had been transferred directly to the National Archaeological Museum of Athens were replaced by plaster casts to display in the museum.
After Kavadias's death in 1926, only limited excavations of Epidaurus took place, such as by G. Roux of the French School at Athens in the area of the Abaton in 1942-43, and by I. Papadimitriou of the Greek Archaeological Service in 1948-51. A. Orlandos undertook the restoration of the theatre between 1954 and 1963 and unearthed new objects, which led to the expansion of the museum in 1958, with a storeroom built in the northwest end of the archaeological site, and storerooms to house sculpture and pottery added to the northeast of the museum. In 1971, the museum underwent expansion again when a new hall was built to the northwest of the main building to accommodate a collection of inscriptions.
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