A weekend in Ancient Epidavros

By Debbie - 11:36 AM

We have many "traditions" (aka reasons to travel, things to wait for) during the year. One of them is to visit every summer Ancient Epidavros Theater for a play during the famous Athens&Epidavrus Festival.

This festival takes place every summer since the 1950s. Great artists have performed in this notable greek heritage and it is the big dream of every Greek actor to play at least once in his/her lifetime there. The Theater is so imposing that makes you feel impressed and inspirational thinking about the greatness of Evripides, Aristophanes, Sofocles and other ancient writers.

The atmoshere is really special inside the Theatre, you feel respectful as the history unfolds in front of your eyes. Sometimes until the play starts. I will be honest with you. Not every play is good. Not every play is respectful and not every play will fulfill your expectations. So one should be really careful on choosing a play. Prices are not that expencive, they vary from 40 euros for the good seats (in front, at the center) and get as low as 10 euros but for a really bad seat on top of the theater (no good views, not recommended).

Epidavros Theater was built in the 4th century and discovered in 1881 (it was under the soil). It is famous apart from its exquisite architecture, for its wonderful acoustics so the actors won't need a microphone. It has a classic amphitheatric form and seats up to 14,000 people (!).

It is a half-hour drive from Nafplio and approximately two hours from Athens. It is a very pleasant and frequent excursion for people who live in Athens, even for a day. But the best experience is to go there and stay for a day preferable at the infamous camping Nicolas, where many local artists and actors choose to stay and enjoy the sea and the delicious meal of the restaurant Mouria, located inside the camping.