Western Archaeological Zone is a somewhat uninspired name for a very interesting archaeological area of Kos Town which is freely accessible. It is situated opposite the ancient Roman Odeon and contains the remains of some of the most important monuments of ancient Kos.
The Harbor Thermae, built around the 3rd century BC. It consists of a round hall with arcades, underneath the rooms were probably the ovens for heating the hypocaust system, the walls were provided with tubes for heating the walls. West of the ruins of the spa area mosaics were excavated in 1936. Not far away is another spa building with a long, now collapsed hall, the Northern Thermae, also from the 3rd century BC.
The remains of a Stadium dating back to the first half of the 2nd century BC. It had a length of up to 180 meters and a width of about 30 meters. The construction probably began in the 4th to 3rd century BC and shows Doric and Ionian architectural elements. A bit to the south the Gymnasium is situated. In 1938 17 columns made of white marble were found belonging to the magnificent Gymnasium of Kos. Its dimensions are believed to once have been about 180 meters in length and about 90 meters in width.
The Western Thermae from the 3rd century AD are located between the portico of the Gymnasium and the paved street. The building, 92 meters long and 35 meters wide in the north and 33 meters in the south, was partially rebuilt into an early Christian basilica after the earthquake of 469 AD.
The Cardo is a paved main road from the 3rd century AD of which most of the large plates are still preserved today, and the lanes of the carts are still recognizable in many places. East of the Cardo is a limestone arcade from the 4th and 3rd century BC.
Also excavated in 1938 was an area of which it is not entirely sure whether it was the spa latrines or a nymphaeum. The originally imposing building from the late 3rd century AD was severely damaged by the 469 AD earthquake. The decoration probably consisted of statues and fountains, the courtyard floor with a central fountain is made of marble blocks and mosaics with geometrical shapes.
The Decumanus was a main street with arcades with a width of over 10 meters, the road itself is about 4.5 meters wide. It was built in the style of the architecture of the first decades of the 3rd century AD.
Furthermore the excavation area contains blocks of houses with mosaics and numerous other finds such as traces of the reconstruction after the earthquake of 142 AD. Noteworthy of these are an early Hellenistic house with a central courtyard and a small toilet, and the house with the Mosaic of Europe.
The entrance to the Western Archaeological Zone is free. On the other side of the city center of Kos town there is another interesting excavation field, the Archaeological Site of the Ancient Agora , which is also freely accessible.
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