Located in the fertile plain of Thessaly in central Greece, modern Trikala is the Homeric Trica (Trikki), one of the places touted as the birthplace of Aesculapius (Asklepios). who is more often said to have been born at Epidaurus, where his main temple was situated in antiquity. Ruins of an old sanctuary to the physician-god, an Askepieion, or healing place, are located between the central square and the church of Saint Nicholas (Agios Nickolaos) in Trikala. It is the oldest Aesculapium of Greece. This was a kind of medical center, from which the worship of Aesculapius gradually spread.
There are other late Hellenistic and Roman period remains, mosaic floors, a stoa and a baths. Dominated by its Byzantine fortress on Hellenistic foundations occupying the ancient Acropolis, the picturesque city is divided into two by an old aqueduct. The churches of Agios Demetrios and Agii Anargyri lend more Byzantine character to the modern town.
Another Trikala is a town in western Corinthia, 33 km soutn of Xylokastro, and west of Stymphalia.