Skip to content
Menu
Landmark1st c. BC – 6th c. ADTicketed

Argos

Άργος

city · Argolis, Greece

What it is
Argos was a city-state of ancient Greece, and its remains lie within the modern town (Wikidata; OpenStreetMap).
What you’ll see
The theatre, with about 20,000 seats, is among the largest ancient theatres in Greece.
Worth the trip?
Yes. The theatre is among the largest ancient theatres in Greece and the baths still stand 11 m high, both in the middle of a living town 15 minutes from Nafplio (the Ephorate; the site's sign; the operator).
Getting there & cost
The entrance is at the corner of Theatrou and Tripoleos streets, 10 minutes on foot from the central square of Argos; the town is 15 minutes by car from Nafplio, and served by the Argolis KTEL buses (the operator).Ticketed · Ancient Theatre and Ancient Agora €10 · checked 9 October 2026Hours, tickets and parking
A stone path through long green grass towards a steep hillside with the rock-cut rows of a great theatre, a brick ruin on the left and a castle on the hilltop.
The path to the theatre, cut into the hill below the castle. · Photo: NikosLikomitros · CC0 · Wikimedia Commons
A towering ruin of red brick and rubble, its upper part pierced by an opening and arches, rising from low excavated walls under a blue sky with the modern town behind.
The brick wall of the Roman baths, still 11 m high. · Photo: George E. Koronaios · CC0 · Wikimedia Commons
An excavated field strewn with rows of stone blocks and column pieces among dry grass, with cypresses and houses at the far edge.
The agora, across the street from the theatre. · Photo: Cascafico · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Argos was a city-state of ancient Greece, and its remains lie within the modern town (Wikidata; OpenStreetMap). The two great sights show the city of the Roman emperors: a vast theatre cut into the hill, remodelled under Hadrian for festivals, wild-beast hunts and gladiators, and beside it a Roman bath house whose brick wall still stands 11 m high (the Ephorate; the site’s sign).

What is there today

The theatre, with about 20,000 seats, is among the largest ancient theatres in Greece. It was built in the early 3rd century BC into the south-east side of the castle hill, its seating mostly cut from the rock in 83 rows in the central section. In the Roman period, above all under Hadrian in the 2nd century AD, it was remodelled to host imperial festivals, mock hunts of wild animals and gladiatorial combat: the brick stage building was extended over part of the orchestra and given a two-storey marble front with Corinthian columns, mosaics and statues in niches. A box of three marble seats for distinguished spectators was added in the 3rd century, and in the 4th the orchestra was turned into a pool for water shows and mock sea battles. The theatre was abandoned at the end of the 4th century (the Ephorate).

The Roman baths, south-east of the theatre, were installed under Hadrian on the site of a sanctuary of Serapis and placed under the protection of Asclepius; Pausanias mentions the Asclepieion. A great hall with arched roofs served for meeting and socialising; from there bathers passed through a changing room to the cold bath, with green marble columns and statues in niches, and on to three hot rooms over underfloor heating. The baths stayed in use until the 5th or 6th century, and their brick wall, still 11 m high, was drawn by travellers alongside the theatre seats. French archaeologists excavated them from the 1950s (the site’s sign).

The agora lies just across the street from the theatre (the operator). An older theatre of the 5th century BC, about 100 m to the south (the Ephorate), was converted into an odeon around 120, by en.wikipedia’s account.

Is it worth the trip?

Yes. The theatre is among the largest ancient theatres in Greece and the baths still stand 11 m high, both in the middle of a living town 15 minutes from Nafplio (the Ephorate; the site’s sign; the operator). The €10 ticket covers the theatre and the agora; check the hours, as the site closes at 15.30 all year (the operator).

Getting there

The entrance is at the corner of Theatrou and Tripoleos streets, 10 minutes on foot from the central square of Argos; the town is 15 minutes by car from Nafplio, and served by the Argolis KTEL buses (the operator). Public toilets are mapped near the agora (OpenStreetMap).

The site opens daily, 08.30–15.30, all year. Last entry is 20 minutes before closing; it is shut on 1 January, 25 March, 1 May, Easter Sunday and 25–26 December. A ticket for the theatre and the agora is €10, reduced €5, and entry is free on 6 March, 18 April, 18 May, the last weekend of September, 28 October, and on the first and third Sunday of each month from November to March (hh.gr, read 9 October 2026 — check before travelling). The Heraion of Argos, the city’s old sanctuary of Hera 8 km outside town, is free (the operator).

Visiting details

Opening hours
Daily, 08.30–15.30, all year. Last entry 20 minutes before closing. Closed 1 January, 25 March, 1 May, Easter Sunday and 25–26 December.
Tickets
Ancient Theatre and Ancient Agora €10; reduced €5. Free on 6 March, 18 April, 18 May, the last weekend of September and 28 October, and on the first and third Sunday of each month from November to March. The Heraion of Argos, 8 km outside the town, is free.
Parking
The site is a 10-minute walk from the central square of Argos; the operator lists parking, and public toilets are mapped about 180 m from the agora (OSM node/13811871751).

Hours and prices checked 9 October 2026 on the operator's own site. Confirm before travelling.

History

Argos reached its cultural height under Pheidon in the 7th century BC (Pleiades). The present theatre replaced the older one probably to host the music and drama contests of the Nemean Games, moved to Argos from Nemea, and in the 2nd century BC it also housed the regular sessions of the Achaean League (the Ephorate). Under the emperors the city hosted the Sebasteia and other imperial festivals, and the baths were built under Hadrian (the Ephorate; the site’s sign). In 1829 the theatre was used again, for the Fourth National Assembly of the modern Greek state (the Ephorate). French archaeologists have excavated the theatre in several campaigns since 1890 (the Ephorate).

Nearby

  • A vast semicircle of grey stone seating rows climbing a wooded hillside, looking down on a round orchestra and the low ruins of a stage building, with pine forest and mountains beyond.

    Photo: Carole Raddato from FRANKFURT, Germany · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Commons

    31 km · site · Argolis

    Sanctuary of Asclepius, Epidaurus

    Most of what you see is Greek, from the sanctuary's great building period in the 4th and 3rd centuries BC: the Temple of Asclepius, which once held a gold-and-ivory statue of the god; the Abaton, the colonnade where the healing rituals took place; the Tholos, a round building; the Katagogion, a guest house of 160 rooms; the stadium; and the theatre (the operator).

  • A wide grassy field of excavated walls, column bases and fragments, with the brick ruin of a vaulted building in the middle distance and seven Doric columns of a temple on a rise beyond.

    Photo: George E. Koronaios · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Commons

    34 km · city · Corinthia

    Ancient Corinth

    The forum was a huge open space, about 200 m from east to west and 100 m from north to south, laid out along the old Greek South Stoa, which formed its southern edge.

Straight-line distances.

Sources

Every fact on this page comes from the records below, each used under the licence noted.

SourceLicence
Pleiades 570106CC BY
Wikidata Q13533353CC0
Vici.org 2939CC BY-SA (text), CC0 (metadata)
OpenStreetMap relation/5348847ODbL
Hellenic Heritage (H.O.C.R.E.D., for the Ministry of Culture) — Ancient Theatre, Ancient Agora and Heraion of Argos, hours and ticketslicence not recorded
Ephorate of Antiquities of Argolida — The ancient theatre of Argoslicence not recorded
The site's sign at the Roman baths ("Serapeion – Asclepeion, Thermes A"), transcribed on Wikimedia Commons, 2020licence not recorded
Wikipedia (en) — Argos TheaterCC BY-SA 4.0
Wikipedia (en) — Achaia (Roman province)CC BY-SA 4.0