A DAY IN DELPHI

Today the buses and taxis were running but the Metro was still on strike. This didn't affect us as we only needed a bus from outside the hotel to take us to one of the two long distance bus terminals. The bus we were going to catch left at 0730 so we had an early start, too early for the hotel breakfast but there was a cafe at the bus station.

The trip to Delphi took about three hours and we had booked the 1600 bus back so had plenty of time to visit the ancient site which was a short walk from the modern town. It was another hot day, all our days in Greece were hot under blue skies except the last day of all.

There is a museum at the site which we visited first to gain some insight on what we were about to see. Not as good a museum as the New Acropolis Museum but not disappointing. Many of the Delphi statues are preserved here. Having gained some ideas on the settlement we moved on to the site itself.

Delphi was situated where legend says that the paths of two eagles released by the god Zeus from opposite ends of the world crossed in the sky. Delphi was the dwelling place of the god Apollo and from the end of the 8th Century. BC individuals from all over the world came the consult the god on what course of action to take, in both public and private matters. This golden age lasted until the Romans arrived in 191 BC. The Oracle was abolished in AD 395 by the Byzantine Empire.

The ancient ruins run up the steep side of a hill and the route is along the Sacred Way.

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The beginning of the Sacred Way

There was a small agora before the start of the Sacred Way where religious objects could be bought. The remains of the shops can be seen behind the row of columns

The Athenian Treasury built after the Battle of Marathon in 490 BC and reconstructed in 1906


Columns at the Temple of Apollo


The Temple of Apollo, replacing an earlier Temple in the 4th Century BC.

The temple was the home of the Delphic Oracle the means through which worshippers could hear the spoken words of the god Apollo spoken though a priestess, or Pythia. Questioners paid a levy called a pelanos and sacrificed an animal on the altar. The Pythia would answer the question in a trance, perhaps induced by vapours from a crack in the ground over which she sat on a tripod. Her incantations were translated by a male priest, though the answers were often ambiguous.

A view over the ruins of the Temple of Apollo

The stadium at the highest point on the site


The seating at the end of the stadium

The stadium is one of the very best preserved stadia in Greece. Almost 200 meters long it is partly hewn out of the rock above the main sanctuary. It could hold over 7000 spectators who gathered every four years for the track and field events during the Pythian Games.

The theatre built 2500 years ago could seat 5000 people. The photo proves we were both there


The theatre has a very fine acoustic and people sitting in the very top row of seats could easily hear the actors in the stage area

We walked back to the modern town and had a meal before catching the bus back to Athens. Delphi is situated quite high in the mountains near the coast of the Gulf of Corinth. On the way there the bus passes by the Mount of Parnassus where it is possible to ski in winter.

We had another early start in prospect as we were due to catch the ferry to the island Naxos, the first of two where we were going to walk. With all the uncertainty of the strikes we decided to take a taxi to the port of Piraeus, assuming the taxis were running, Only tomorrow would tell us that.