Hippocrates Plane Tree

The plane tree in Platanou Square has a trunk over ten metres around, propped on scaffolding and stone piers because the wood is hollow and the great limbs would otherwise fall, and Kos has told visitors for centuries that Hippocrates taught his students beneath it. Botanists put its age at perhaps five hundred years, which makes the direct connection impossible, though it may descend from an older tree on the spot. Around it stand an Ottoman fountain fed by an ancient aqueduct and the Gazi Hassan Pasha mosque of 1786, and the bridge to the Neratzia castle crosses beside it. The tree suffered in the 2017 earthquake and has needed repeated intervention, so its condition is watched closely.

What you actually see

• The hollow trunk - a vast plane supported on piers and scaffolding.
• The Ottoman fountain - a marble fountain fed by an old aqueduct.
• The mosque - the 1786 Gazi Hassan Pasha building on the square.
• The castle bridge - the crossing to Neratzia fortress alongside.

When to go

Any season; the square is open and the tree visible at all hours. Kos town is busiest with cruise and package visitors from June to September.

Honest expectations

The Hippocrates story is tradition rather than fact, and the tree is a propped ruin of a plane rather than a majestic specimen. It takes ten minutes to see. The square is a standard stop on every town tour.

Nearby

Neratzia castle is across the bridge; the Asklepieion, the actual ancient medical sanctuary, lies 4 km southwest.