Delphi

Apollo’s oracle on the slopes of Mount Parnassus, with the Temple of Apollo and a theatre above it.

According to myth, the god Apollo killed a serpent that lived here, called Python or Delphyne. The site grew into a sanctuary of Apollo, and most of the important Greek city-states built monuments there, showing their shared Greek identity. Most of the ruins that survive date from a period of busy building in the sixth century BC.

Temple, theatre and stadium

The first archaeologically attested temple of Apollo was built in the seventh century BC and burned down in 548 or 547 BC. The Alcmaeonids built a new one, which burned in the fourth century BC. The ruins you see today are from the fourth century BC. Higher up the hill is the theatre, first built in the fourth century BC, and beyond it the stadium, which could seat 6,500 spectators.

The Pythian Games and the Tholos

The Pythian Games took place at Delphi, and rulers such as Hieron of Syracuse entered chariot races at the hippodrome. About 800 metres from the main ruins stands the Tholos of the sanctuary of Athena Pronaea, a round building from 380 to 360 BC with 20 Doric columns. Three of its columns have been rebuilt, and it is the most photographed spot at Delphi.

Digging up Delphi

A village called Kastri sat on top of the ruins until the French excavations. Digging first began in 1880, but the village had to be moved first. After an earthquake damaged it, villagers were offered a new village in exchange, and in 1893 the French Archaeological School uncovered the sanctuary. The Delphi Archaeological Museum now keeps treasures such as the Charioteer of Delphi and the earliest known written melody.

On the globe

The model shows the Temple of Apollo and the theater high on the mountain slope.