Yesterday we quit the busy streets of Athens and rode the bus about 110 miles northwest to Delphi. I have never quite figured out the right-of-way rules operative in Greece, beyond the obvious insight that buses clearly rule the road. Even the police melt out of the way...
Delphi is a small village on the lower west slopes of Mt. Parnassos:
In antiquity, Delphi was the home of a famous Oracle. The site is built right next to a cleft in the mountainside ("Delphi" means "womb").
The ancient sanctuary was buried over the centuries, and the village of Kastri was built over the ruins. In 1895, the French Archeological School bought out the villagers, who relocated about 1000 yards to north. They then excavated the site, finding the Temple of Apollo, a number of smaller treasury buildings, and a theater.
The archeological site and the town are perched at the edge of a steep cliff that drops about 1,000 ft into vast river canyon, where many hundreds of acres of olives are cultivated. It's hard to do the view justice with a photo.
We got here at about 2:00 o'clock. It was pretty warm, and we were hungry, so we stopped for some lunch at a pleasantly shaded outdoor cafe. We were hoping to tour the site museum in the afternoon, but by the time we got down there it had just closed, as had the main sanctuary of Apollo. No problem, because we had all of the next day to visit those wonders. So instead, we wandered a few hundred yards down the road to the spring of Kastalia:
The spring still flows, next to these ancient baths. We drank a little of water, since the ancients believed that drinking from this spring would make you eloquent. These baths are where the Theopropoi ( querents of the Oracle ) and the Pythia, the oracular priestess, bathed to purify themselves before the oracular audience. They would then proceed up a short trail behind the spring, along the very bottom of the cleft in the rock, before turning uphill to reach the temple of Apollo.
Unfortunately, there is a severe rockfall hazard ( two examples of such debris right next to the baths ), so we couldn't hike up into the canyon.
We crossed the road to visit the Sanctuary of Athena Pronaia ( "Athena who is before the Temple" ). It is built on some flat ground just below the Sanctuary of Apollo, and included a gymnasium and two small shrines to Athina. The Tholos of Athena is a small round structure, and it is the iconic image of the Delphi site.
We sat in the shade of some trees for a while, watching the site ranger affectionately feed his cats.
We walked back up the modern village, where we're staying, and had Yet Another Very Fine Meal (man, do the Greeks know how to cook) at the Taverna Vachhos, which despite the Dionysian connotations of its name, had a very welcoming, family atmosphere. ( Dionysos Bakcheios or Vacchos = "Dionysos Who Brings Chaos". )
Last but not least, the view out of our hotel balcony, across the modern village of Delph and down towards the seaside town of Itea.
There is something quite magical about the light in Delphi. In the late afternoon, it's as if the clouds begin to glow with a faint golden hue. The natural beauty of the mountainside and the Pleistos river valley and its orchards below is breathtaking. I count myself very fortunate to have come here twice in one lifetime.
The plan for today: visit the Sanctuary of Apollo, and the new site museum.
Delphi is a small village on the lower west slopes of Mt. Parnassos:
The ancient sanctuary was buried over the centuries, and the village of Kastri was built over the ruins. In 1895, the French Archeological School bought out the villagers, who relocated about 1000 yards to north. They then excavated the site, finding the Temple of Apollo, a number of smaller treasury buildings, and a theater.
The archeological site and the town are perched at the edge of a steep cliff that drops about 1,000 ft into vast river canyon, where many hundreds of acres of olives are cultivated. It's hard to do the view justice with a photo.
We got here at about 2:00 o'clock. It was pretty warm, and we were hungry, so we stopped for some lunch at a pleasantly shaded outdoor cafe. We were hoping to tour the site museum in the afternoon, but by the time we got down there it had just closed, as had the main sanctuary of Apollo. No problem, because we had all of the next day to visit those wonders. So instead, we wandered a few hundred yards down the road to the spring of Kastalia:
Unfortunately, there is a severe rockfall hazard ( two examples of such debris right next to the baths ), so we couldn't hike up into the canyon.
We crossed the road to visit the Sanctuary of Athena Pronaia ( "Athena who is before the Temple" ). It is built on some flat ground just below the Sanctuary of Apollo, and included a gymnasium and two small shrines to Athina. The Tholos of Athena is a small round structure, and it is the iconic image of the Delphi site.
We walked back up the modern village, where we're staying, and had Yet Another Very Fine Meal (man, do the Greeks know how to cook) at the Taverna Vachhos, which despite the Dionysian connotations of its name, had a very welcoming, family atmosphere. ( Dionysos Bakcheios or Vacchos = "Dionysos Who Brings Chaos". )
Last but not least, the view out of our hotel balcony, across the modern village of Delph and down towards the seaside town of Itea.
The plan for today: visit the Sanctuary of Apollo, and the new site museum.
So incredibly beautiful. Thank you for sharing your day.
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