Delphi

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Archaeological site of Delphi

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billmoy
billmoy
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Editor Pick

Old Gods are Still Alive Here

  • September 8, 2009
  • Rated 5 of 5 by MagdaDH from Perth, United Kingdom
Old Gods are Still Alive Here

The road to Delphi from Itea and our campsite winds up along tight serpentines. Eventually the coastal plain and the view of the bay disappears and we are surrounded by mountains from all sides. The site is located at the end of the modern village and consists of three parts: the newly refurbished museum, the Sacred Precinct itself with the temple of Apollo, theatre and the stadium and the area called Marmaria comprising ruins of a gymnasium, temple of Athena and the Castilian spring.

The spring lies at the bend of the road couple of hundred meters up from the main site and it`s here where we begin our pilgrimage. An unidentifiable stone animal still spouts on the roadside and we fill our bottles with clear, cold mountain water. The actual area of the spring (in which the ancient visitors had to purify themselves before entering the sanctuary) is now railed off because of the danger of an occasional landslide but we can peek down to the ruined entrance and below the canopy of trees, in perpetual semi-shade broken by the rays of light filtering from above. It`s here that I have, for the first time, the impression that will be repeated again and again in Delphi: if the old gods are still alive somewhere in Greece, it is this place indeed.

From the spring we wander down to Marmaria proper, called that because it was used as a convenient marble quarry in the medieval times.

Both gymnasium and the temple of Athena are reasonably interesting (gymnasium area provides excellent view of the Sacred Precinct on the mountainside above us), but the focus of the area is the Tholos: a mysterious round structure of which three columns and some metopes have been reassembled. Nobody know what it was for and it stands there beautiful and secretive, reminding us that of the mystery in the past covered up by the millennia and forever hidden. The site is virtually dwarfed by the massive crags of Parnassus rising above and should feel claustrophobic and foreboding, but it doesn`t. It feels solemn and very, very old but it`s not an old age of decay and desolation, is a wise and timelessly beautiful one.

From the Marmaria we trek back to the main site and decide to go to the Museum first as it closes earlier, and leave the main site to the last.

Delphi museum, recently refurbished, is impressive, clearly laid out and reasonably well labelled in Greek, French and English.

The museum is arranged in a chronological order and virtually every room contains something of interest: from the early Mycenaean stripy female figurines made from terracotta to a silver bull with gilded horns and hooves to a beautiful sphinx (my 4 year old was fascinated by that) seated gracefully on a Ionic column, to the highlight of the collection, the famous Charioteer, a bronze (now covered in green patina) and an undoubted masterpiece in what is called the severe style. His curls and folds of his robe perfectly parallel, his horse and chariot long gone, he stands there holding invisible reins and staring with his painted eyes into the abyss of eternity.

My own favourite is a different piece though, a column garlanded by several circles of acanthus leaves and topped by a group of three women, all of them wearing short transparent chitons and rectangular head dresses, their facial features ground down by the years to just basic outline of human face, captured in what seems like a graceful dance. There used to be a cauldron above their heads but nobody knows who they were or what they symbolised. The mystery attracts unfailingly.

We leave the museum in late lunchtime to conclude out tour with the visit to the main sanctuary. Paved Sacred Way leads up in a zigzag path past numerous statue bases and votive offerings of various cities called `treasuries`. Most of them are ruined to the foundation level, and the statues are now in the museum, but one (the treasury of the Athenians) has been reassembled using the inscriptions on the sides and helps to imagine how the site must have looked. No, it doesn`t really. We have actually no idea and probably very few people can visualise the opulence, the crowds, the liveliness, the colour of the sanctuary in its heyday.

Doric temple of Apollo is the dominant building in the sanctuary, it's him who looked after the site for most of the year, his was the oracle and he killed Python the serpent to claim his ownership. But it is another one of these strange Greek instances where balance seems to be of such supreme importance: the site was under Apollo`s patronage only for a part of the year. The winter months, when the oracle was silent, were given to Dionysus, the god of wine and passion, of poetic and sexual frenzy, and the theatre was build to stage plays under his patronage.

Originally Delphi was obviously dedicated to the powers of the underworld (thus the serpent, and after all Pythia inhaled hallucinogenic vapours from an underground chasm). An old, old rock which is believed to be Gaia's altar is still there, and was there when the place was ruled by the Apollo`s priests and covered in gold and marble. It looks strange, incongruent , ancient and scary.

Once we climb as high as and slightly above the temple, the views - which were great all along - become outstanding, and that is even after four weeks of travelling across Greek mountains. The six columns of the temple seem to be almost floating in the air, at the very edge of an abyss, framed by the crags and looking as if they were flying. Despite the solidity of stone even the remains of the building have a lightness derived not just from architecture but from the way it interacts with the landscape around it.

The site is crossed by the Polygonal Wall, which, amazingly, is still standing despite all the earthquakes. The inscriptions that cover the wall relate apparently to slave liberations for which Delphi was one of the few official venues.

The theatre is just above the temple, but to be honest it`s not particularly impressive after the Epidavros one, so we have a look at another angle of the untiringly fascinating view and continue amongst the pines higher up to the stadium, which now has Roman-era seats, but is originally one of the oldest stadia in the world. It was used for the Pythian games, run every four years here from 6th century B.C. The banks above the seats are covered in trees and as it`s more or less deserted (tour groups rarely venture that high) it`s an admirable spot for a picnic lunch: partially shaded, evocative structure, and half-way to the top of the world.

After that, we trample down in the lowering sun, and manage to catch the bus back to the campsite just as we emerge from the site.

* Practicalities *

Entrance tickets cost 9 euro for the museum and the site, 6 euro just for the site. Marmaria and the spring are free of charge.

The site paths are not concreted over and the site is not accessible to wheelchairs. The newly refurbished museum is fully accessible to wheelchairs.

There are toilets and cafes on both parts of the site and in the museum. There is also a gift shop and a post office near the museum entrance.

Delphi is achievable from Athens as a day trip, by car or by bus (10 euro one way), there are several buses a day, but the bus ride takes 3h and is boring and hot, so you have to be pretty desperate to want to do it twice in one day. Travelling from Patras is an option for those who come on ferries from Italy and the route is beautiful and picturesque, taking in the new suspension bridge over Corinth Gulf, medieval port of Nafpaktos and town of Galaxidi. The journey also takes about 3h but there is only two buses a day.


* Summary *

If you have a slightest predilection for antiques, go. The setting is superb, the ruins extensive, interesting and beautiful, the museum alone worth a visit.

It`s very crowded with tour groups but even that can be negotiated if you time your visit well. Start with the less crowded Marmaria, visit the museum in the lunch hour and the sanctuary - normally the busiest part of the site - towards the closing time. You need reasonable amount of time to do the place justice, 3h is a minimum to have a good look at all the sub-parts and climb up all the way to the Stadium.

From journal Beyond Athens: Greek highlights from Peloponnese & around

Editor Pick

Archaeological site of Delphi

  • June 24, 2002
  • Rated 4 of 5 by billmoy from Chicago, Illinois
Once I arrived by bus at Delphi, I made a mad dash past the modern-looking museum (displaying and protecting antiquities found within the site) to enter the great archaeological site of Delphi. The main site is situated about a mile east of the modern town of Delphi. Members of the French Archaeological School at Athens performed excavations here. Between 1892 and 1902, archaeologists uncovered the Temple of Apollo and the theater.

Once you pass the admissions booth (displaying a few souvenirs for sale), you will walk through the Agora with a few minor relics from an Early Christian church. Keep an eye out for stray cats and dogs in these quiet areas. Then proceed upwards along the paved Sacred Way past a variety of votive offerings, monuments and treasuries, including the reconstructed Treasury of the Athenians. Watch your step, or a guard will blow a whistle to announce that you are stepping on a relic that should not be stepped upon!

The centerpiece of this site is the Temple of Apollo, dating from 490 BC. Six Doric columns have been re-erected upon the rectangular base of the temple to create a majestic impression of what the temple looked like. The fluting on the columns looks finer on one side than on the other, perhaps illustrating the wear and tear caused by the harsh local elements.

Continue upward on the pathway to see the grand amphitheater (4th Century BC), with 35 terraces of stepped seating. You will admire the views around these two major constructions, despite the large tour groups camped about.

From journal Bill in Greece - DELPHI

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