Asclepieion at Kos

The Asclepieion is the great healing sanctuary of Kos, laid out on three terraces on a pine-covered hillside a few kilometres south-west of Kos Town. Dedicated to Asclepius, god of medicine, it was built in the generations after Hippocrates, the island's most famous son, and flourished through the Hellenistic and Roman periods as a combined temple, spa and hospital.

Climb from the lowest terrace, with its baths and springs, past the altar and the Ionic temple to the Doric temple of Asclepius at the top. The reward is the view over the town and the strait to the Turkish coast around Bodrum. There is little shade: go in the morning, bring water and a hat, and check the day's hours before you set off.