Things to Do in Kos Town

Kos Town is unusual among Greek island capitals in how much ancient ground sits inside the modern street plan. A 1933 earthquake levelled much of the town, and the rebuilding uncovered the Roman and Hellenistic layers beneath it.

The result is a centre where an excavated agora, a Roman odeon and a Knights' castle sit within a few minutes' walk of the cafés, rather than out on a separate archaeological site.

In 1933 an earthquake destroyed much of Kos Town. The Italian administration then governing the Dodecanese used the rebuilding as an opportunity to excavate, and the ancient and Roman city that had been buried under the medieval town was uncovered and left open.

That is why the archaeology here is not fenced off on a hillside somewhere. The agora, the odeon, the Roman baths and the colonnaded road sit between the cafés and apartment blocks, and people walk past them on the way to work.

The whole circuit — castle, agora, odeon, western archaeological zone, Casa Romana and the Archaeological Museum on Eleftherias Square — can be covered on foot in a single unhurried day. Start early or go late in the afternoon: there is very little shade over the excavated ground, and midday in July is punishing.