Summer 1955: Elvis Presley was recording with Sun Records in the USA, while in France, Simone de Beauvoir, who had won the Prix Goncourt for her novel The Mandarins just half a year earlier, was preparing to visit China with Jean-Paul Sartre. In Greece, it was a time of both cultural and political change, and George Rallis, then Minister for the Presidency of the Government, decided to organize an arts festival in Athens. To give it a more international profile, the renowned theater director of the Metropolitan Opera of New York, Dinos Giannopoulos, was invited to organize the debut.

On 24 August 1955, a little before 8 pm, the Athens State Orchestra opened the festival with Handel’s Largo. Some 40 days later, the greatest Greek conductor of all time, Dimitris Mitropoulos, conducted the New York Philharmonic Orchestra at the Orpheus Theater (rain had ruled out the Odeon of Herodes Atticus as a venue). “No one has received such warm and prolonged applause as Mitropoulos,” the press wrote at the time. From this auspicious beginning, the Athens Festival would go on to become a cultural institution of decisive importance for the country.

Thirsty for artistic creativity, the public immediately embraced the festival that would forever change the Greek summer. Not only did it become the flagship for artistic events, but it was also the institution that gave successive generations of attendees their cultural baptism. The festival introduced Greek audience to the international cultural scene, while simultaneously strengthening its relationship with native-born artists.

Over the past six decades, the festival has hosted some of the leading lights of theater, music and dance, including Maria Callas (who returned to Greece in 1957 after a 12-year absence); Margot Fonteyn (who appeared for the first time in 1961 and returned the following two years with Rudolf Nureyev);Leonard Bernstein (with whom the New York Philharmonic returned in 1959); Herbert von Karajan (who twice conducted the Berlin Philharmonic, in 1962 and 1965); and Martha Graham, one of the greatest artists of the 20th century. Others who have graced the festival include Mstislav Rostropovich, Luciano Pavarotti, Yehudi Menuhin, Sylvie Guillem, Pina Bausch and George Balanchine, to name just a few more, along with such Greek luminaries as Mikis Theodorakis, Manos Hadjidakis and Leonidas Kavakos.

There were, of course, some teething problems in the early years; having adopted tried and tested formats from abroad, the festival at first seemed to be addressing itself more to older audiences, playing it safe with major ensembles, famous soloists and classical ballet. Boldness was not encouraged; Modern Greek theater pioneer Karolos Koun’s production ofAristophanes’ The Birds, for instance, was withdrawn in 1959 because it was considered blasphemous. However, this conservatism eventually disappeared as younger generations of artists claimed their place in the program, with the American Ballet Theater (1970), the Nederlands Dans Theater (1972) and the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater (1979) bringing the first wave of modernism.

From the early ‘80s onwards, the festival became known for a decidedly more innovative approach. In 1984, Japan’s Toho Theatre Company, directed by multi-awarded Yukio Ninagawa, staged one of the greatest ever performances of Medea, featuring a male actor in the title role. One year later, as the city of Athens celebrated its designation as the European Capital of Culture, the Royal National Theater presented a truly memorable production of Coriolanus, directed by Peter Hall and starring Ian McKellen.

Thanks to the festival, cultural life during the Athens summer now revolves around the magnificent Odeon of Herodes Atticus, the Roman theater financed by Herodes Atticus in the 2nd century AD and built on the southwest slope of the Acropolis. The route up to the theater, particularly from theTemple of Olympian Zeus, is like a walk through the city’s ancient past, the evening air heavy with the scent of jasmine, the sound of children playing in the streets, a sense of escape and expectation.

The Odeon was the first venue to be identified with the festival. Organizers shrewdly “sold” to foreign artists the opportunity to perform under the “halo” of the Acropolis. They, in turn, infused their efforts with inspiration from ancient Greece, and helped the festival quickly develop an international reputation. Theodore Kritas, the legendary producer and director who for decades was responsible for inviting artists to the Odeοn, recalls travelling to Moscow to speak with Rostropovich about performing. It only took him a few minutes to convince the great cellist and conductor; so captivating was the chance to perform in the shadow of the Acropolis. Leonard Bernstein was also delighted to perform at the festival, expressing his enormous admiration for the venue. In fact, the only special request he made was to be allowed, the day after his 1977 concert, to visit the grave of Dimitris Mitropoulos, his mentor and friend.

Just as the presence of Dimitris Mitropoulos had been integral to the success at the Odeon, actor-director Dimitris Rondiris became a key figure for theGreat Theater of Epidaurus. It was Rondiris who established a new way of “interpreting” the ancient tragedies; his 1954 production of Euripides’Hippolytos served as a dress rehearsal for the inaugural Epidaurus Festival the following year. For its official inauguration, an invitation was sent to actor and director Alexis Minotis, who had already distinguished himself in the theatres of England and who had appeared in Alfred Hitchcock’s Notorious alongside Cary Grant and Ingrid Bergman. Minotis chose to direct Euripides’ Hecuba by the National Theater, with Katina Paxinou in the title role. From this bright beginning, the Epidaurus Festival grew, soon becoming agreat competitive arena for the world of theater.

One of the greatest artists to grace the Epidaurus Festival was undoubtedlyMaria Callas. On 24 August, 1960, she performed Bellini’s Norma with the National Opera of Greece and with Tullio Serafin conducting. As she sang the Casta Diva aria, two white doves were released, prompting a storm of applause. At the end of the performance that night, the enthusiasm of the audience was so great that Callas reappeared for 10 encores. La Divina returned to Epidaurus the following year, again performing with theNational Opera, this time in Luigi Cherubini’s Medea. Directed by Alexis Minotis before an audience of around 17,000, it was another triumph, with Callas receiving a standing ovation.

Because of the festival, life in and around Epidaurus takes on a different quality every Friday and Saturday in August. At Lygourio, the village that welcomes thousands of audience members after the performances, the locals are said to measure their age relative to the festival. In the early years, when there were no hotels, these same villagers would accommodate the festival performers in their own homes.

Since the festival began, other venues – in addition to the Odeon and Epidaurus – have sought to host events, including the Lycabettus Theater and the Stoa of Attalos. The man who envisioned a festival that would embrace the entire city of Athens was its former artistic director Giorgos Loukos. It was Loukos who, in 2006, launched an ambitious program of expansion. As a first step, an old furniture factory at 260 Pireos Street was renovated and transformed into a hub of avant-garde artistic expression. Many other new venues soon followed.

Today, the Festival is deeply ingrained in our DNA. Most of us have fond memories of events we have seen at the Odeon or at Epidaurus, and we still look forward to the next performances. As the years go by, I’m sure we’ll still worry that we’ve forgotten to switch off our cell phones, and we’ll still hide bottles in our bags for those particularly warm evenings. We’ll still be vexed by those stiletto heels that we couldn’t forego wearing, despite repeatedwarnings from archaeologists about the serious damage they cause to the monuments. We’ll continue to be outraged by the kilos of chewing gum removed from the marble by the special clean-up teams.

At the Odeon, political figures will squeeze into the front rows, while the upper tier will be full of young people. The seats will always be uncomfortable for long performances. Row 19 at the end of the lower tier will remain expensive, in great demand by those in the know, since this is the only row where the seats come with back support. And tourists will continue to use up the memory capacity of their cameras on their first visit, and leave the theater waxing lyrical about an incredible life experience…

In recent years, eclectic travelers seeking to enhance their well-being as part of a memorable vacation experience have created a new international trend, wellness tourism. Two-and-a-half millennia ago, these same travelers would very possibly have headed for Epidaurus.

In a way, this new trend marks a return to the wise practices of the ancient Greeks, who regarded disease as a multifaceted phenomenon to be approached through religion and medicine in parallel. In antiquity, people flocked to healing sanctuaries known as Asclepieions. There were around 30 such sanctuaries across the Mediterranean, including at Epidaurus. They were dedicated to the god of medicine, Asclepius, who was said to appear to pa­tients during the curative dream ritual. The dream was interpreted by a priest-physician, who prescribed a cure.

The Asclepieion of Epidaurus flourished from the late 5th Century BC to the end of the Roman Era. Pilgrimages there (leaving the city for the countryside was the first step in devotional travel) were based on rituals and practices performed by priests. “Upon arrival, patients would bathe, describe their symptoms and then drink a soporific potion (whose ingredients are unknown),” says the director of the Museum of Cycladic Art, Professor Nicholas Stampolidis, who curated the museum’s hugely popular exhibition “HYGIEIA: Health, Illness, Treatment from Homer to Galen,” which ran from November 2014 to May 2015.

Epidaurus was one of the most celebrated Asclepieions of the Classical world. It grew over time, with a sanctuary, temple, altar, stoa, gymnasium, baths (there were also mineral springs), even a dining hall and a large hospice. In fact, as a destination, it had many of the facilities one might expect to find in a high-end spa resort today. Close by stood the theater of Epidaurus, which was an integral part of the healing sanctuary, for, as Professor Stampolidis points out, “performances were considered part of the therapeutic process since they were beneficial to all the senses, and could thus promote catharsis.” Patients are thought to have been “prescribed” to attend specific performances depending on their condition, and the theater’s incredible acoustics are believed to have been used for sound healing.

NOT JUST ABOUT THE PAST

Although Epidaurus’ ancient past continues to draw and inspire visitors from all over the world, the nearby villages of New (Nea) and Old (Palaia) Epidaurus (Epidavros) are also beautiful, visit-worthy spots that are often overlooked by theatergoers and tourists. Apart from the well-preserved “Small Theater,” there is much more evidence of antiquity in the old town, while its layout has changed little since Homer described it millennia ago. Yet the extremely picturesque town offers a scenic and serene getaway for a day-trip or longer. With Classical Greek roots but also an air of Italy’s elegant Amalfi Coast, its cobalt blue harbor fills with sailboats in summer. Here visitors will find abundant greenery, modern cafés, low-rise architecture, friendly, old-fashioned tavernas serving fresh seafood and several great swimming spots such as Gliati and Vayionas.

Less than 10 kilometers from Old Epidaurus, at the foot of Mt Akrosa, is the new town, which is ideal for a stroll along its island-like, cobbled streets past charming, traditional homes. Nature lovers can explore Vothyla Gorge, swim in the blue-green waters of Polemarchas beach or take an invigorating trek along the pine-lined path along Yialou River, while history buffs can visit the impressive sites of the old Byzantine and Venetian castles, and the 11th century fortress-like Monastery of Agnountos.

THE THEATER & THE MUSEUM

For the past 60 years, audiences have been relishing the unique experience of watching plays and concerts in the remarkably well preserved Ancient Theater of Epidaurus, under the star-filled sky, exactly as people did over 2,500 years ago. Every summer, from June to October, a series of memorable performances are hosted at the theater in the framework of the Greek Festival. The theater, located within the archaeological site of the Sanctuary of Asclepius and with a seating capacity of 14,000, was first reused as a venue in modern times in 1938 with a staging of Electra, before being officially inaugurated in 1955 with Euripides’ Hecuba, directed by Alexis Minotis.The Epidaurus Archaeological Museum features a Statue of Asclepius, bronze medical eqipment, the side section of the Propylaea of the Asclepius temple and numerous other finds that bring Epidaurus’ past to life.