The Roman Odeon of Kos: Marble Seats for 750 Spectators

The Roman Odeon is a small, steep theatre in the middle of Kos Town, built in the 2nd century AD for music contests and civic meetings. Once roofed, it held around 750 people. Its lower rows are still made of the original white marble, and you can walk through the vaulted passage that runs underneath the seats.

The Roman Odeon at a glance

• Where: on Grigoriou E' Avenue in Kos Town, opposite the Western Archaeological Site and a few minutes' walk from the harbour.
• Built: in the 2nd century AD, during the Roman period; excavated in 1929.
• What it is today: a restored ancient monument that is open to visitors and still used now and then for concerts and cultural events.
• Size: about 32 by 30 metres, with 14 rows of seats for roughly 750 spectators.
• Time needed: 20–30 minutes, longer if you combine it with the excavations across the road.

From Roman concert hall to Italian excavation

Kos was a wealthy city under Roman rule, and the Odeon stood in its south-western quarter, just south of the main processional street. It was used for music and poetry competitions and as a meeting place for the city's public bodies, which gathered here to honour distinguished citizens. Unlike an open-air theatre, it had a roof. Accounts of the site say it was damaged by an earthquake in 142 AD and repaired under Emperor Antoninus Pius.

Over the centuries the building disappeared under later layers of the town. It was rediscovered and excavated in 1929 by the Italian archaeologist Luciano Laurenzi, when Kos was under Italian rule, and the Italian mission restored it at the same time. Many statues and inscriptions were found in the surrounding area, including an inscription bearing the name of Hippocrates, now in the Archaeological Museum of Kos. A further programme of conservation followed between 1994 and 1999.

What to look for

• The marble rows: the lower nine rows are of white marble and were reserved for the most important citizens; the rows above were for everyone else.
• The dividing corridor: a walkway cuts across the seating and splits it into two sections, as in larger Greek and Roman theatres.
• The pillars underneath: the seats rest on large square pillars that create an artificial slope, since the ground here is flat.
• The vaulted passage: walk through the tunnel-like corridor beneath the seating, which now holds a small photo exhibition about archaeology on the island.
• The mosaic floors: look for the marble mosaics in the circular orchestra and on the floors of the side aisles.

A building for songs and speeches

An odeon was a small, covered relative of the Greek theatre, built for performances that needed good acoustics: singers, musicians, poets and speakers. Researchers have suggested that the Odeon of Kos may have hosted competitions of praise poems for Roman emperors during the Great Asklepieia, the festival held every four years in honour of Asclepius, the god of healing.

Tips for your visit

• Come early or late in the day: the stone seats have no shade and heat up quickly in summer.
• Sit in one of the upper rows for the best view over the whole auditorium and the orchestra floor.
• Keep off the restored marble edges and mosaics, and do not climb on the walls.

Nearby

• Western Archaeological Site: the excavated Roman streets, houses and the colonnade of the ancient gymnasium, right across the avenue.
• Casa Romana: a restored Roman villa with courtyards and mosaics in the same quarter of the old city, a short walk away.
• Archaeological Museum of Kos: statues and mosaics from the ancient city on Eleftherias Square, about ten minutes' walk.
• Plane Tree of Hippocrates: the huge old tree near Nerantzia Castle, linked by legend to the father of medicine.

See Kos with World City Trail

Our Kos scavenger hunt turns the old town into a game you play on your phone. It takes around 2 hours, with about 33 minutes of walking, and the route includes Nerantzia Castle and the Plane Tree of Hippocrates. You can play in English, German, French, Italian, Dutch and Greek.

If you prefer a different format, there is also a self-guided walking tour and an outdoor escape game in Kos.

Play the Kos scavenger hunt →

Take the self-guided walking tour of Kos →

Play the outdoor escape game in Kos →

Facts checked in October 2026.