Troizen, Hippolytos court
Only a few remains of the ancient city of Troizen have survived, apart from the remains of the city walls and a reasonably preserved square tower. The lower half is antique, the rest is medieval. From here you can follow a path to an old aqueduct up to the picturesque medieval bridge known as the phyra tou dhiavolou “the devil’s bridge”. Surrounded as Troizen was on the landward side by difficult to pass, hills had traditionally been close to Attica, as is also apparent from the story of Pausanias. The mythical king of Athens Theseus came from Troizen, where his son Hippolytos was killed. The good relations with Athens were retained even after the Doric migrations, as evidenced, among other things, by the assistance offered by the Troisians in 480 when they had to flee the Persians: where the men of Athens embarked on the war fleet, the Troisians temporarily took their women and children.
From left to right, above, the temple of Hippolytos and the remains of the “hospital” . On the right the holy court of Hippolytos (images from Papachatzis). It seems that Hippolytos was considered a healing god. Just before their marriage, young girls sacrificed one of their braids to Hippolytos, who had chosen to always live a virgin life in the service of Artemis. In the Byzantine period a (now ruined) church has been erected in the court of Hippolytos (below).