Kos (Cos) island, Greece—ruins of The Western Bath. Photographer: Kallerna. License: Attribution-Sharealike 3.0 Unported
Kos (Cos) island, Greece—ruins of The Western Bath. Photo by Kallerna. License: CC BY-SA 3.0 (image cropped and enhanced).

What is…
Coos

also known as: Cos (in most modern Bibles), Kos, Greece (modern), Coo (Italian), Meropis, Cea, Nymphaea

Greek: Κῶς (ancient Greek) and Κως (modern Greek)

This is a small island, one of the Sporades in the Aegean Sea, in the northwest of Rhodes, off the coast of Caria. People of this island are called Koan (or Coan).

Herod the Great erected a statue here for son Herod the Tetrarch. It was a city of learning and had a provincial library during Roman times.

Paul on his return from his third missionary journey, passed the night here after sailing from Miletus.

Now when we had parted from them and had set sail, we came by a straight course to Cos and the next day to Rhodes and from there to Patara; —Acts 21:1 LSB

Kos (Cos, Coos)—satellite view

This island has many Greek and Roman ruins, including a temple, bath, marketplace, mosaics, columns, a gymnasium, and an ancient theater (Odeon).

The main cityis also called Kos.

More information

Article Version: June 21, 2024