Greek Culture Minister Lina Mendoni on Thursday visited the archaeological site at the Epidaurus Asclepeion to be briefed on the progress of recent archaeological excavations that have revealed the remains of an even older temple building found at the shrine, in the vicinity of the Tholos, ANA reports.
The partly excavated building is dated to nearly 600 B.C. and consists of a ground floor with a primitive colonnade and an underground basement carved out of the rock beneath. The stone walls of the basement are covered in a deep-red plaster and the floor is a strong pebble mosaic, which is one of the best-preserved examples of this rare type of flooring to survive from this era.
The find is considered important because it predates the impressive Tholos building in the same location, whose own basement served as the chthonic residence of Asclepius, and which replaced the new discovery after the 4th century B.C. This shows that the worship of Asclepius at Epidaurus began much earlier than previously thought and had the same chthonic features while altering what is known about the history of the region in general.
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