Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
HIPPOCRATES
Hippocrates
(c.460-370 BC) is generally regarded as the father of scientific medicine, even if
the Hippocratic oath, much altered from its original form, may well have nothing to do with
him. Hippocrates was certainly born on Kos, probably at Astypalia near present-day Kéfalos,
but otherwise confirmed details of his life are few. A great physician who travelled throughout
the Classical Greek world, he spent at least part of his career teaching and practising on his
native island. Numerous medical writings have been attributed to Hippocrates;
Airs, Waters and
Places
, a treatise on the importance of environment on health, is generally thought to be his,
but others are reckoned to be a compilation found in a medical library in Alexandria during
the second century BC. His emphasis on good air and water, and the holistic approach of
ancient Greek medicine, now seem positively contemporary.
middle of the second terrace. Just east, the Corinthian columns of a second-
century-AD
Roman temple
were partially re-erected by nationalistic Italians. A
monumental
staircase
leads from the altar to a second-century-BC
Doric temple
of
Asklepios on the highest terrace, the last and grandest of the deity's local shrines.
The east
The shoreline of the
eastern
half of Kos, in both directions from Kos Town, is fringed
with good
beaches
, albeit interspersed with marshlands. The best, around Cape
Psalídhi to the east and Lámbi, Tingáki and Marmári to the southwest, have attracted
resort development, but with a bike especially (thanks to the coastal bike paths) it's
usually possible to find a stretch of sand to yourself. Inland, the rugged
hills
cradle
some delightful villages, though many are now sadly empty.
8
Brós Thermá
East of Kos Town, beyond the huge hotels of Cape Psalídhi, the paved coast road ends
after 12km. A dirt track continues for the final kilometre to the massively popular
hot
springs
known as
Brós Thermá
. Best experienced at sunset or on moonlit nights, they
issue from a grotto and flow through a trench into a shoreline pool formed by
boulders, heating the seawater to an enjoyable temperature.
Tingáki and Marmári
The coast southwest of Kos Town is home to the twin beach resorts of Tingáki and
Marmári. There's almost always a breeze along this stretch, which makes it popular with
windsurfers, while the profiles of Kálymnos, Psérimos and Turkey's Bodrum peninsula all
make for spectacular offshore scenery. Heading for either resort from town, especially on a
bike, the nicest and safest route is the minor road from the southwest corner of town.
A favourite with British travellers,
TINGÁKI
is 12km west of the harbour. Its long
narrow beach of white sand improves, and becomes more separated from the frontage
road, the further southwest you go. Thanks to the island of Psérimos just offshore,
waves tend to stay small, and the warm shallow waters are ideal for children. There's
little accommodation near the beach itself, though medium-sized hotels and studios are
scattered amid the fields and cow pastures inland.
MARMÁRI
lies another 3km along, beyond the
Alykí
salt marsh, which retains water
- and throngs of migratory birds, including flamingos - until June after a wet winter.
Marmári has a smaller built-up area than Tingáki, and the beach is broader, especially
to the west where it forms little dunes.
The Asfendhioú villages
The inland villages of
Mount Dhíkeos
, a handful of settlements collectively referred to
as
Asfendhioú
, nestle amid the island's only natural forest. Together these communities
