Paestum - The Asclepieion II
On the eastern edge of the city, near the two southerns doric temples, is the Asclepieion, the city hospital. Medicine is an ancient science, perfected by the greek physician Hippocrates, the inventor of the clinical method based on the measurement and recognition of symptoms based on theoretical knowledge. As well as Hippocrates, medicine was entrusted to the followers and priests of Asclepius, the god of medicine and son of Apollo, who practised in places dedicated to the deity and called Asclepieia. Unlike medicine that used the clinical method, this type of medicine was based on the principle that the disease was the consequence of divine intervention.
In the Asclepieia patients followed a precise ritual: once they entered the cella (inner room), they fell into a deep sleep during which the god healed them. Here at Paestum the cellae are small square rooms,
Situated to the north and south of a large central courtyard, surrounded by a portico with columns and fountains. at the centre of this space, there is a lead cramp which has been interpreted as the anchor point for the statue of the god. the building dates to the Lucanian period of Paestum towards 300 BC, and stands above another building which is a hundred years older.
Source: Archeological area notice
300 BC
Paestum, Archaeological site
Asclepieia, Asclepieion, Asclepius, Asclepio, Sito archeologico, Archaeological site, Poseidonia, Paestum
Paestum - The Asclepieion II
On the eastern edge of the city, near the two southerns doric temples, is the Asclepieion, the city hospital. Medicine is an ancient science, perfected by the greek physician Hippocrates, the inventor of the clinical method based on the measurement and recognition of symptoms based on theoretical knowledge. As well as Hippocrates, medicine was entrusted to the followers and priests of Asclepius, the god of medicine and son of Apollo, who practised in places dedicated to the deity and called Asclepieia. Unlike medicine that used the clinical method, this type of medicine was based on the principle that the disease was the consequence of divine intervention.
In the Asclepieia patients followed a precise ritual: once they entered the cella (inner room), they fell into a deep sleep during which the god healed them. Here at Paestum the cellae are small square rooms,
Situated to the north and south of a large central courtyard, surrounded by a portico with columns and fountains. at the centre of this space, there is a lead cramp which has been interpreted as the anchor point for the statue of the god. the building dates to the Lucanian period of Paestum towards 300 BC, and stands above another building which is a hundred years older.
Source: Archeological area notice
300 BC
Paestum, Archaeological site
Asclepieia, Asclepieion, Asclepius, Asclepio, Sito archeologico, Archaeological site, Poseidonia, Paestum