April 25, 2025 - Greece
Delphi - Sanctuary of Apollo
We made sure we arrived at the Sanctuary of Apollo early because we had noticed driving in that there wasn't much parking.  We got a parking spot fairly close to the entrance.  It's a beautiful day in Greece, as you can see!
   
Passing by the Archaeological Museum.  We would hit it after visiting the site.
   

"Ancient Delphi was not a city, but a sanctuary -- a place of worship centered on the Temple of Apollo, where the oracle prophesied.  Surrounding the temple is what remains of grand monuments built by grateful pilgrims.  And the Pythian Games produced what are perhaps the best-presesrved theater and stadium in Greece.

Every four years, athletes and spectators gathered here to worship Apollo with music and athletic competitions: the Pythian Games, which soon rivaled the Olympics.  The Sanctuary of Apollo reached the height of its prestige between the 6th and 4th centuries BC, by which time Delphi so dominated Greek life that no leader would make a major decision without first sending emissaries here to consult the oracle.  The sanctuary was deemed too important to be under the control of any one city-state, so its autonomy was guaranteed by a federation of Greek cities.

Even when Greece was conquered by the Macedonians (Alexander the Great) and Romans, the sanctuary was preserved and the conquerors continued to consult the oracle.  For a thousand years, Apollo spoke to mortals through his prophetess, until AD 394, when Christians shut down the pagan site."   ... Rick Steves
   
"Gaze up at the hillside and picture the ruins as they were 2,000 years ago:  gleaming white buildings with red roofs, golden statues atop columns, and the natural backdrop of these sheer gray-red rocks towering up 750 feet.  It must have been an awe-inspriing sight for humble pilgrams, who'd traveled here to discover what fate the ficle gods had in store for them."  ... Rick Steves
   

Passing by the remnants of the Roman forum.  The columns supported an arcade of shops.  "Here pilgrims could pick up handy last-minute offerings -- small statues of Apollo were popular -- before proceeding to their date with the oracle.  At festival times, crowds of pilgrims (all of them men) gathered here for parades up to the temple, theater, and stadium."  ... Rick Steves
   
Let's shop!
   
Now heading up the Sacred Way.  This road was once lined with  glorious statues and monuments financed by satisfied pilgrims grateful for the oracle's advice.   There was a huge bronze statue called the Bull of the Corcyreans (c. 580 BC).  There was also a colossal bronze replica of the Trojan Horse.  A semicircle lined with 10 statues of the legendary Kings and Queens of Argos, including Perseus, Danae, and Hercules once stood.
   
Looking south across the valley.
   
Passing by the Treasury of the Athenians, built to commenorate their victory over the Persians at the Battle of Marathon in 490 BC.  (The ruins were rebuilt in 11904-1906.
   
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Looking southeast down the valley.
   
The retaining, polygonal wall (6th century BC) supports the terrace with the Temple of Apollo.
   
"The three white flutted Ionic columns along the retaining wall belonged to the Athenian Stoa, a 100-foot-long open-air porch.  Here the Athenians displayed captured shields, ship's prows, and booty from their naval victory over Persia at the decisive Battle of Salamis (480 BC).  It was the oracle of Delphi who gave Athens the key to victory.  As the Persian army swarmed over Greece, the oracle prophesied that the city of Athens would be saved by a 'wooden wall.'  The puzzled Athenians eventually interpreted the oracle's riddle as meaning not a city wall, but a fleet of wooden ships.  They abandoned Athens to the Persian invaders, then routed them at sea."  ... Rick Steves
   
"The retaining wall runs across the hillside for some 250 feet at heights of up to 12 feet.  It has survived in almost perfect condition because of the way that the stones were fitted together (without mortar).  This created a 'living' wall, able to absorb the many earthquakes for which the region is renowned (earthquakes caused the other buildings here to crumble)."  ... Rick Steves
 
The ancient Greeks did an amazing job of fitting these huge stones together.
   
You can still see inscriptions carved in the stone wall.
   
We turn left and head up the hill.
   

A little color makes all the difference.

The greenish pole at left is the Tripod of Plataea.  "This monument was built to thank the oracle for victory in the Battle of Plataea (479 BC, fought near Thebes), which finally drove the Persians out of Greece.  The monument's 26-foot bronze column of three intertwined snakes was carried off by the Romans to their chariot-racing track in Constantinople.  A replica stands here now, based on what's left of the original column in Istanbul."  ... Rick Steves
   
Surviving columns of the Temple of Apollo.
   

What is left of the Temple of Apollo at center, with the Great Altar of Apollo in front.

At left is a better look at the Tripod of Plataea.

At right is the 20-foot-tall rectangualr Pillar of Prusias II.  Atop this was a statue of a second-century king on horseback who traveled here from Turkey to consult the oracle.  Near it would have been a 50-foot Statue of Apollo Sitalkas.  Only a rectangular base remains today.
   
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Looking up the hill.
   
The Temple of Apollo, from the west.
   
Looking downhill at the Treasury of the Athenians.
   
Uphill, we get our first glimpse of the theater.
   
A nice shot of the Temple of Apollo, the ceterpiece of the whole sanctuary.  "It was dedicated to the god who ruled the hillside, and it housed the oracle who spoke in his name.  This was the third and largest temple built on this site (completed 330 BC), replacing earlier versions destroyed by earthquake and fire.  It was largely funded by Philip of Macedone and dedicated in the time of his son Alexander the Great.  The temple was gleaming white, ringed with columns, with a triangular pediment over the entrnace and a roof studded with statues.  The six huge Doric columns that stand near the entrance today (reasembled in 1904) were complemented by 15 columns along each side."  ... Rick Steves.
   
"One of Greece's best-preserved theaaters (4th century BC) was built to host song contests honoring Apollo, the god of music.  With 35 rows of white stone quarried from Mt. Parnassos, it could seat 5,000.  The famous Bronze Charioteer statue (now in the museum) likely stood outside the theater's entrance, in the middle of the road, greeting playgoers.  The theater was designed so that most spectators could look over the backdrop, taking in stunning view of the valley below even as they watched the onstage action." ... Rick Steves
   
The craggy cliffs hover over the back of the theater.
   
 
   
Looking down on the Temple of Apollo.
   
Looking down at the road.  The museum is behind those tall trees.
   
The theater's original and main purpose was to host not plays, but song contests, a competition that was part of the Pythian Games.  Every four years, singer-songwriters from all over the Greek-speaking world gathered here to perform hymns in honor of Apollo, the god of music.  They sang accompanied by flute or by lyre -- a strummed autoharp, which was Apollo's chosen instrument.   The opening and closing ceremonies of the Pythian Games were held here."  ... Rick Steves
 
A great shot of the stone Theater and the Temple of Apollo, 1,800 feet above sea level on the slopes of Mt. Parnassos (8,062 feet).
   

After another ten minutess of walking uphill we arrive at the Stadium.   It was built in the fifth century BC, but was altered in later centuries. The last major remodelling took place in the second century AD under the patronage of Herodes Atticus when the stone seating was built and an (arched) entrance created. It could seat 6500 spectators and the track was 581 ft long and 84 ft wide.

"Every four years, athletes and spectators from across Greece gathered here to watch the same kinds of sports as at the ancient Olympics.  The Pythian Games (founded at least by 582 BC) were second only to the (older, bigger) Olympic Games in prestige.  The Pythian Games lasted about a week and were held in the middle of a three-month truce among warring Greeks that allowed people to train and travel safely.  Winners were awarded a wreath of laurel leaves (as opposed to the olive leaves at the Olympic Games) because Apollo always wore a laurel-leaf wreath."  ... Rick Steves
   
 
   
Bill and Lynnette
   
Dave and Jenny
   
A speculative illustration of ancient Delphi by French architect Albert Tournaire.
   

I created this image using ChatGPT based on the Sanctuary of Apollo model in the museum.  It shows the Sanctuary at it's peak,"the height of its prestige, between the sixth and fourth centuries BC, by which time Delphi so dominated Greek life that no leader would make a major decision without first sending emissaries here to consult the oracle."

"By the third century BC, the oracle was handling more lonely-hearts advice than affairs of state.  The Romans alternated between preserving Delphi (as Hadrian did) and looting its treasuries and statues.  Nero famously stole 500 statues for his home in Rome (AD 66), and Constantine used Delphi's monument to decorate his new capital (Constantinople).  As Rome crumbled, looters did their damage.  Finally, in AD 394, the Christian Emperor Theodosius I closed down the sanctuary, together with all the other great pagan worship centers.

The site was covered by landslides and by the village of Kaastri until 1892, when the villagers were relocated to the modern village of Delphi, about a half-mile to the west.  Excavation began, the site was opened to tourists, and its remaining treasures were eventually put on display in the museum."  ... Rick Steves.
   
A floor-plan of the Sanctuary of Apollo, which was surrounded by a wall, back in the day.  Number one, of course, is the Temple of Apollo.
   
We didn't see this, but it is the Sanctuary of Athena Pronea.  It is just down the road (to the east) from the Sanctuary of Apollo.  We could have easily seen it but I didn't read the Rick Steves book closely enough and didn't know about it.  The star attraction here is the Tholos (created 380 BC), a round structure whose exact purpose is unknown.  Only 3 of 20 Doric columns still stand.  This is the most-photographed spot in all of Delphi.
   
 
   
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