The Archaeological Site of Ancient Agora close to the port and right in the middle of Kos town is a large excavation area that is freely accessible. It is situated a bit below current street level between Eleftherías Square, Nafklirou Street, Platia Platanou (Platane Square with the Tree of Hippocrates and Loggia Mosque) and Leoforos Ippokratous Street. Visible are the remains of parts of ancient Agorá, its adjacent buildings and some beautiful mosaic floors.
Until 1933 the medieval city center of Kos was on the site of today's excavations, but this part of the city was almost completely destroyed by a severe earthquake that year. As a result, the underlying ancient remains became visible and archaeologically excavated. Italian archaeologists took the opportunity and excavated parts of the ancient Agorá and adjacent buildings. At the other end of Kos center there are more interesting parts of the excavations following the earthquake such as the western excavation field, the Roman Odeon and the Casa Romana.
Overall, the terrain is rather confusing and unfortunately badly signposted. Two pillars erected today mark the ancient location of a long portico in which shops were housed. The remains of an Aphrodite sanctuary include some Corinthian capitals. To the east of the area are the ruins of an early Christian basilica. From a later epoch, part of a medieval defense tower was preserved in the southwest corner.
The excavations are freely accessible via two entrances, on the south from the street Leoforos Ippokratous, on the north from the street Akti Miaouli.
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