Kos | Heather and Keith's travels

Kos is part of the Dodecanese islands in Greece. Although it is known for it’s sandy beaches there are Greek and Roman landmarks, particularly in and around Kos Town.

We visited in August 2022 and stayed at the Aegean View Aqua Resort near Kos Town.

Hotel

We generally don’t include our accommodation but the views were spectacular in the distance you can see the Turkish mainland. The hotel is situated about 3 miles from Kos Town on the site of a hill and was all inclusive. At the time of writing the hotel ran a shuttle bus in to the Kos town several times a day which we took advantage of.

The hotel had lots of pools we counted 12 separate pools but we suspected there were more.

Starting the holiday with a cocktail.

Sunset from outside our room.

Kos Old Town and Harbour

Like many old towns on the Greek islands the streets are very narrow with shops and bars touting their wares. In the heat of the day they are shaded and cool.

Eleftherias Square is one of the main social gathering places in Kos Town and a good spot to have a drink before embarking on a tour of the town. One of the main features of the square is the clock tower, there is also the town market, and a historical mosque.

The government house, Palazzo del Governo, was built in the 1920’s based on designs by an Italian architect with a modern Moorish style used in Eritrea and Libya. During the Italian occupation of the islands during the war it was the headquarters of the fascist administration. Today it’s usage includes the Law Courts and Police Headquarters.

Looking across to Turkey from one of the beaches that surround the Old Town.

Kos Town has more than one harbour, this is a view of one of them taken from the castle.

Statue at the entrance to Kos Marina, this was important to us as we used this as a waypoint to mark where we picked up the shuttle bus back to the hotel.

Plane Tree of Hippocrates

The tree of Hippocrates is a plane tree in Kos Town which according to legend this is where Hippocrates of Kos taught his pupils the art of medicine. This is an oriental plane, with a crown diameter of about 12 metres, said to be the largest for a plane tree in Europe.

Ancient Agora

The Ancient Agora (Ancient Market) is an imposing excavation area where a number of temples, baths, and houses with remaining mosaics, columns, and other pieces of construction belonging to several periods have been found. So, in this case, the market has a lot more to reveal that a simple marketplace. The Ancient Market is a large excavation area, with many interesting historical and architectural findings. For example, ancient Market has part of a wall made of large stones, that counts on 80 meters long by 2,5 meters high.

Neratzia Castle

This is situated at the entrance to Kos Town harbour and faces across to Halikarnassos Castle (Saint Peter Fortress) which is just across the water on the Turkish coasts. In bygone days the knights of the two castles collaborated to control the strategic straits between Kos and Turkey.

The bridge leading to the castle entrance is called the Phoinikon which means Palm Trees.

Roman Odeon

This is not a cinema chain from yesteryear but the remains of an open-air theatre built in the 2nd century.

It was discovered sometime in the early 20th century along with the Gymnasium and the Roman baths, all of them in generally good condition. These constructions are placed on the east and west of the Casa Romana, which is part of the Ancient Town and its several excavation areas. One of the main advantages of this complex is that it concentrates many important places to the point that they can be comfortably visited during just one walk, without having to travel across distant points and without wasting time or spending money.

Western Archaeological Site

As mentioned above the main sites are close together

Evangelismos Church

The church was built in about 1930 as a catholic church in the centre of Kos Town. It is now the residence of the bishop’s. Inside there is a library and collection of old Byzantine icons.