Asklepieion and the Lerna Fountain, Ancient Corinth
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Archaeological site
Location
Korinthia
Keyword
Ancient Corinth
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Description

The Asklepieion of Corinth
Located approximately 450 meters north of the Temple of Apollo, on the northern slopes of Acrocorinth, the sanctuary and healing center of Asklepios was uncovered by the American School of Classical Studies. It was one of the city’s most significant sanctuaries, functioning for more than 800 years. Its location was carefully chosen: far enough from the city center to provide a tranquil setting, exposed to northern winds that kept the air clean, and most importantly, near the abundant spring of Lerna, essential for healing practices. Archaeological evidence suggests the site initially hosted an open-air sacred precinct dedicated to Apollo. Around the 5th century BCE, a second precinct was added, this time dedicated to his son, Asklepios. By the late 4th century BCE—perhaps following a destructive earthquake—the sanctuary was rebuilt. A small temple was constructed with a four-columned façade, vestibule, and inner chamber, aligned along an east-west axis. The new temple was dedicated to Asklepios and possibly also to Hygieia, the goddess of health. The sanctuary was formally enclosed: to the east, it featured an altar and treasury, while to the west stood the abaton, a large building where the ritual of incubation—sleeping to receive divine healing through dreams—took place. Two symmetrical rectangular pits carved into the bedrock beside the temple may have housed the sacred snakes associated with the god.
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To accommodate the large number of visitors, colonnades were built around the sanctuary, likely used to display votive offerings left by patients. Further west, at a lower level, a peristyle courtyard was constructed over the natural spring of Lerna, whose water was vital to the sanctuary’s healing functions. Around this courtyard were purification basins and additional spaces such as dining rooms, baths, and rest areas for the ailing visitors. The Asklepieion, along with the Lerna spring, likely ceased operation after the destruction of Corinth in 146 BCE. However, following the city's reestablishment as a Roman colony in 27 BCE, both were renovated and returned to use. During his 2nd-century CE travels, Pausanias mentions a temple of Asklepios in Corinth, noting that the statues of Asklepios and Hygieia were made of white stone (Pausanias II.4.5). ________________________________________ The Clay Votive Offerings Around 900 terracotta representations of human body parts were discovered in seven deposit pits surrounding the Hellenistic-era temple. These pits had served as disposal areas for earlier offerings to Apollo and Asklepios, and also contained a wide variety of artifacts including figurines and pottery. The votives—dating from the late 5th to the second half of the 4th century BCE—form a unique collection. They were offerings made by worshippers who had either been healed or hoped to be healed. Among them are full heads of men and women, hands, feet, male genitals, female breasts, torsos, and individual parts like eyes, ears, tongues, and even hair—all life-sized and modeled in local clay. These objects reflect the longstanding and sophisticated ceramic tradition of Corinth, home to the famous Corinthian vases traded across the Mediterranean. Local craftsmen likely provided a wide selection of anatomical votives tailored to specific ailments. Though many are simply modeled, others exhibit striking realism, depicting the frailty or suffering of the afflicted body parts with remarkable detail. Most votives were painted either red or white—a distinction thought to symbolize male and female dedications, respectively. The exact location of the workshop where these items were made remains unknown. The distinctive nature of these Corinthian votives, combined with Corinth’s strong cultural influence in the Greek colonies of southern Italy and Sicily, may explain the presence of similar offerings at sanctuaries across the western Mediterranean—such as at the sanctuary of Diana Nemorensis at Nemi, the Etruscan site of Veii, and the Tiber Island sanctuary of Asklepios in Rome.
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Location
Ancient Corinth
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Ancient CorinthAsklepieionKorinthiaCorinthFOUNTAINLERNA
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