Day 7 & 8 - Delphi Museum and Ruins

Delphi

is an archaelogical site and a modern town in Greece on the south-western spur of Mount Parnassus in the valley of Phocis. Delphi was the site of the Delphi Oracle, most important oracle in the classical Greek world, and it was a major site for the worship of the god Apollo. His sacred precinct in Delphi was a Panhellenic sanctuary, where every four years athletes from all over the Greek world competed in the Pythian Games. Delphi was revered throughout the Greek world as the site of the omphalos stone, the center of the earth and the universe.

Very nice hotel we stayed in up in a mountain town above Delphi, the nicest and largest rooms by far, and also modern bathrooms like in the U.S. hotels, most Greek hotels have open showers or a curtain that is not floor length, with a drain in the floor. This was a very interesting cultural difference, but with a Mediterranea climate, things dry quickly, which is probably a reason for this.

Two very well preserved Kouros (statues of young men) in the museum at Delphi.

One of the oldest bronze statues recovered in Delphi, in incredibly good shape.

Looking up toward the Temple of Apollo at the site of the Delphi Oracle, the landscape in the mountains is absolutely wonderful.

The Temple of ApolloRhiannon and others decided to brave the underground passage way that takes you under the Temple of Apollo.

The priestess of the oracle at Delphi was known as the Pythia. Apollo spoke through his oracle, who had to be an older woman of blameless life chosen from among the peasants of the area. The sybyl or prophetess took the name Pythia and sat on a tripod seat over an opening in the earth. When Apollo slew Python, its body fell into this fissure, according to legend, and fumes arose from its decomposing body. Intoxicated by the vapors, the sibyl would fall into trance, allowing Apollo to possess her spirit. In this state she prophesied. She spoke in riddles, which were interpreted by the priests of the temple, and people consulted her on everything from important matters of public policy to personal affairs.

The stadium at the top of the city in Delphi, the site of the Pythian Games.