Page 160 - Sarpedon’dan Keykubad’a Bir Zamanlar Antalya

Fig.112: Rhodiapolis, Asklepion, Hospital. Photo. by A. Kılınç.
The great doctor who started to treat patients here as soon
as he returned to his native country of Lycia. In addition to pro-
viding free care to those who had no money, he always pro-
vided financial support for them. However, these aids must not
have been enough for Heraclitus, who devoted his life to touch-
ing people’s lives, as he had the first hospital building built in
his hometown, Rhodiapolis, in Lycia. In this 1500 square meter
Asclepion sanctuary, he tried to help more people as both an
Asclepius priest and as a doctor. People coming from all over
Lycia found a cure for their diseases through him (Kızgut 2011;
Çevik 2015).
A great philosopher who gave great importance to educa-
tion. He had a library built on the southwest corner of this hos-
pital building he had built, with the 60 books he had written on
its shelves, where he taught medicine and philosophy to his

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