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Hidden gemHub · 2 stops1st c. BC – 7th c. ADFree

Cos – Kos

Kos, Κως

city · Kos, Greece

What it is
Cos, today the town of Kos, is the ancient city of the island of Kos, whose remains lie open in the middle of the modern town: the great agora, a restored Roman odeon, the ancient main street in the western excavations and a rebuilt Roman house, the Casa Romana (en.wikipedia; the Ministry; de.wikipedia; the operator).
What you’ll see
The stops each have their own page:
Worth the trip?
Yes, if you are on Kos: the Roman town can be walked in the middle of the modern one, much of it free, and the Casa Romana and the museum are a few minutes apart; the Asklepieion lies 3.4 km out of town (en.wikipedia; the operator; the Ministry).
Getting there & cost
The agora is in the centre of the town by the Archaeological Museum on Eleftherias Square, 5 minutes on foot from the port; the Casa Romana is on Grigoriou E' Avenue, 10 minutes from the port (the operator).FreeHours, tickets and parking
A wide excavated area of squared stone blocks and low walls on dry ground, with palm trees and the town's buildings at its edge.
The agora, in the middle of the town. · Photo: JD554 · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Two fluted marble columns carrying a piece of entablature, standing on a stone wall in the ruins of the agora, beside a tall cypress, under a blue sky.
Two standing columns in the agora of Kos. · Photo: JD554 · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Excavated foundations of rough stone and scattered column drums in dry grass, below a wall and modern houses.
Remains along the ancient main street, the decumanus, in the western excavations. · Photo: sailko · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons

The stops

2 places to see, the best preserved and best known first.

See all 2 stops on the mapWhere each one is, so you can plan your own way round.Open the map →
  1. A broad flight of stone steps rising up the middle of a long retaining wall of squared blocks, with round-headed recesses set into the wall to the left, a gravel path and scattered stone bases in the foreground, and pines above.

    Photo: Asurnipal · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Commons

    site · Kos

    Asclepeion of Kos

    The sanctuary is laid out on three terraces joined by staircases (the Ministry's leaflet; the operator).

    Ticketed
  2. A two-storey courtyard ringed by slender marble columns on both floors, with a railed gallery above and a stone basin in the middle of the earth floor.

    Photo: Elisa Triolo · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Commons

    villa · Kos

    Casa Romana

    The rebuilt house covers about 1,800 m² within an excavated area of some 6,000 m² (de.wikipedia).

    Ticketed

Cos, today the town of Kos, is the ancient city of the island of Kos, whose remains lie open in the middle of the modern town: the great agora, a restored Roman odeon, the ancient main street in the western excavations and a rebuilt Roman house, the Casa Romana (en.wikipedia; the Ministry; de.wikipedia; the operator). The sanctuary of Asklepios lies 3.4 km outside the town.

What is there today

  • The agora, in the heart of the town, was one of the largest in the ancient world: a yard 50 m wide and 300 m long, with shops on the east side and a monumental entrance from the harbour. At its south end stood a round building with a Roman dome, and rooms with mosaic floors of beast fights were found on the west side (en.wikipedia). It is free to visit (OpenStreetMap).
  • The Roman odeon, at the south of the western excavations, was built in the 1st–2nd century AD for music contests and was the seat of the island’s council of elders. It seated about 750, under a roof, on rows of marble seats over arches of concrete, and the Italian excavators restored it from 1929. Entry is free (the Ministry).
  • The western excavations, across the road from the Casa Romana, take in the ancient main street (the decumanus), a nymphaeum and a gymnasium with a covered running track (de.wikipedia, Casa Romana).

The stops each have their own page:

  • The Casa Romana, a rich Roman house of the 2nd–3rd century rebuilt with its courtyards, pools and floor mosaics, is 10 minutes on foot from the port. A ticket is €10 (the operator).
  • The Asklepieion, the sanctuary of the healing god on its terraces 3.4 km outside the town, was built in Greek times; under Rome fountains with thermal water, cisterns, latrines and baths were added. A ticket is €15 (the operator).

The Archaeological Museum on Eleftherias Square shows sculpture and mosaics from the agora, the western site, the odeon and the Casa Romana, among them a mosaic of Asclepius arriving on the island (the operator).

Is it worth the trip?

Yes, if you are on Kos: the Roman town can be walked in the middle of the modern one, much of it free, and the Casa Romana and the museum are a few minutes apart; the Asklepieion lies 3.4 km out of town (en.wikipedia; the operator; the Ministry).

Getting there

The agora is in the centre of the town by the Archaeological Museum on Eleftherias Square, 5 minutes on foot from the port; the Casa Romana is on Grigoriou E’ Avenue, 10 minutes from the port (the operator). KTEL buses stop about 200 m from the agora (OpenStreetMap). For the summer of 2026 the Ministry lists the odeon open daily except Tuesdays, 08.30–15.30, with free entry (read 10 October 2026).

Visiting details

Tickets
Free

History

Kos was friendly to Rome, following its neighbour Rhodes, and was made a free city in AD 53. Herod of Judaea endowed the post of the gymnasiarch here, and in the 1st century AD the island built a public library, among whose donors was Gaius Stertinius Xenophon, a doctor from Kos who served the emperors Tiberius, Claudius and Nero in Rome. The agora’s building was destroyed by an earthquake in 469. The earthquake of 1933 destroyed much of the old town, and the Italian authorities then running the island turned the old quarters into an archaeological park (en.wikipedia).

Sources

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

SourceLicence
Pleiades 599728CC BY
Wikidata Q65238016CC0
OpenStreetMap way/37133706ODbL
Wikipedia (en) — KosCC BY-SA 4.0
Ministry of Culture and Sports (Odysseus) — Roman Odeion of Koslicence not recorded
Ministry of Culture and Sports (Odysseus) — Roman Odeion of Kos, informationlicence not recorded
Hellenic Heritage (H.O.C.R.E.D., for the Ministry of Culture) — Archaeological Museum of Koslicence not recorded
Hellenic Heritage (H.O.C.R.E.D., for the Ministry of Culture) — Roman Villa (Casa Romana), Koslicence not recorded
Hellenic Heritage (H.O.C.R.E.D., for the Ministry of Culture) — Asclepieion, Koslicence not recorded
Wikipedia (de) — Casa RomanaCC BY-SA 4.0