The Natural History Museum is located in the village of Lygourio (ancient Lykoreia) in the Argolid prefecture of the Peloponnese, Greece. Lygourio and its Museum are just 2 km (1.3 mi) away from the ancient Theatre of Epidaurus (Gr. Epidavros), famous through the ages for its perfect acoustics.Epidaurus was also renowned in antiquity for its sanctuary of Asclepius, the deity of healing, where people from throughoutt the Hellenic world gathered to be healed by sleeping at specific locations within the sanctuary.

 l 

Left: Location of the Argolid.

Right: Porto Heli (ancient Halieis) natural harbour, Argolid. Click picture to enlarge.

Below: The ancient theatre of Epidaurus

Bottom: Ancient Epidaurus: The Sanctuary of Asclepius

Epidaurus has been blessed not only by its ancient works of man, but also with magnificent creations of Nature: it is near Epidaurus that large fields of fossils can be found, comprising, inter alia, Ammonites of the Triassic and Jursassic periods (235-241 million years ago).

The Museu of Natural History at Epidaurus has been the life achievement of Vassisilis Kotsiomytis, a man whose prime motivator has been love for his home region, deep respect of Nature and inexhaustible appreciation of Nature's works and wonders.

Vassilis has, over the years, invested his belongings, his labour and his time to turn dream and inspiration into a tangible treasure for us all to share.

The Museum opened to the public in 1993 and has been operating since then as a non-profit organisation.

4,500 exhibits at the Museum along with dozens of charts, maps and drawings guide and enlighten the visitor through the geological and biological evolution of our planet

Top-level scientists from the Univesrity of Athens and the Hellenic Geological Institute have offered and invested their knowledge to the classification of the fossils and the minerals of the Museum, many of which are unique.

The Museum: Brief introduction to Exhibit coverage.

In the Museum we find fossils minerals from across Greece, such as:

Parts of fossilised tree-trunks and fossils of hippurites, corals, fish, sea urchins and numeorus others, from 200 million to 500 million years old (MYO).

Complete collections of ammonites 235-241 MYO, from the Epidaurus location of Asclepeiion, an area internationally recognised as being a unique palaeontological treasure cove of fossilised ammonite fauna.

A very large collection of minerals from Greece and from other areas.