Delphi

My last two days in Greece were spent on a guided bus tour through the center of Greece's mainland.  I got to see a lot of beautiful countryside and mountain vistas, as well as the Ionic sea. I hadn't realized that 4 / 5th of Greece is covered by mountains : a shutterbug's dream!  The following pictures were all taken from the bus, so forgive any reflections in the windows.

Ionic Sea

Groves and groves of olive trees...

DELPHI 

Day 1 took me to Delphi, the belly-button of the Ancient World and Greece's most sacred site. As the story goes, Zeus was sitting atop Mount Olympus and sought to find the Center of Grandmother Earth (or Gaia, as they called it). He released two eagles, one flying towards the East and the other heading West. The two birds met up at Delphi, which signified that this beautiful area must be the center of the Earth. He threw a rock down to mark the spot (called the Omphalos) and there you go : a legendary place. 

The spiritual shenanigans that took place here are the best-documented religious practices of Ancient Greece. The Delphi Oracle was the most powerful priestess on the planet: people from all over the planet would travel for many months just to consult her and base major life decisions on her prophesies. All matters, from public policy to personal matters, were subject to her advice. Even Alexander the Great consulted her before invading Asia Minor.

Once a question was asked of her, the (always virgin) priestess would retire to her chamber in the Temple of Apollo, where she would ponder while inhaling hallucinogenic vapors coming from a chasm in the earth. This allowed the god Apollo to possess her spirit ; in a trace, she would cry out her frenzied answer -- sometimes complete gibberish -- which would then be 'interpreted' by a clever priest, who always gave the ambiguous prophecy double meaning. Credit always went to the Oracle, but obviously much work belonged to the priests, who were fast-thinking salesmen. 

The sanctuary at Delphi was in use from 1500 BC until Roman Emperor Theodosius destroyed it in the name of Christianity in 390 AD.

Remains of the Temple of Apollo. On the marble blocks of this temple are inscribed famous words of wisdom that we still abide by to this day, such as ''Know thyself''' and ''Nothing in excess''.

How the Temple of Apollo looked  (its appearance, structure and colors were well-documented).

View down the valley from the Temple of Apollo

The omphalos (meaning ''belly button'') that Zeus threw down to mark the center of the Earth.

                             Many treasuries were built in Delphi to thank the Oracle for her advice, to commemorate victories and to demonstrate power. They are called treasuries because they housed very expensive marble and gold statues, gold donated to the gods, etc. This is the Athenian Treasury, built to commemorate Athens' victory against the Persians in the Battle of Marathon in 490 BC (probably thanks to the Oracle's advice).

How the Athenian Treasury would have looked.

Stoa of the Athenians (stoa means covered walkway or portico). About a thousand inscriptions can be seen on the stones of the rear wall. Any slave freed in Athens was asked to journey to Delphi to write his personal biography on a stone of the stoa wall, explaining the reason for his deserved freedom. 

One freed slave's autobiography. I found this really cool.

The Sanctuary of Athena, as it would have looked in its heyday. Pilgrims arriving in Delphi would have passed by this sanctuary before visiting the Temple of Apollo.

All that remains of the Sanctuary of Athena is a section of the Tholos (round building). They are not certain what the Tholos was used for -- built in 380 BC.

Tholos, with Temple of Apollo in background.

Delphi also had a recreational area, with gymnasium, pool, hot tubs and running track. Further up on the hill was a huge stadium and hippodrome, but I didn't get to see them because the tour group spent too much time at a cheesy touristy coffee shop on the way to Delphi. Grrrr.

Day 2 of my bus tour will take me Meteora, an otherworldly gift from Mother Nature and Greek monks.... Read up on it in my next blog... Until then, take good care of you.  xx