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| Apollos' Sanctuary |
After having a wonderful time in Santorini, the beautiful island belonging to Greece, the very next day we boarded by 8 AM, an equally beautiful bus, to go to Delphi, considered the ancient centre of the world.
Delphi is a site of ancient ruins of the temples of the mythological gods of the Greek nations, declared as a world heritage site by the UNESCO in 1987. It is a town that lies in the upper central region of Greece mainland, situated on the slopes of the Mountain Parnassus.
It might have been constructed and reconstructed between 510 to 323 BC. Earthquakes in 375 BC and 83 BC damaged these structures extensively. It was the seat of Pythia, the Oracle, consulted about important decisions, like going to a war, throughout the ancient world.
In Second century AD, Roman Emperor Hadrian is said to have visited the Oracle twice. After Fourth century, the eminence of Delphi and its Oracle declined, gradually. In 390 AD Roman Emperor Theodosius stopped the practice by law and by sixth and seventh centuries the temple was abandoned.
The ruins lie on the slope of the hill, one above the other and it was a difficult climb in the hot Greek sun. Still one managed to do it, just out of interest to know about the place.
The first building is that of Apollo’s sanctuary, of which only a few columns are left standing. These pillars are tall and round with ledges, on the top of which are placed flat square capitols. This is called the Doric style, the first style of Classical architectural style of Greek and Roman architecture.
This style and the other two styles, we see repeated in the 19th and 20th century modern buildings in Europe and America. Thus, these laid the basic designs of Western architecture and as such are priceless and timeless. You will notice them as you visit the Washington Lincoln Memorial, the Metropolitan Museum of Arts in New York and elsewhere.
The Treasury
Second ruin we see is the Treasury, which has its front pillars restored and is built slightly above the Apollo’s sanctuary. Rich merchants and princes gave their offerings, if the predictions by the Oracle came true and these were kept in the treasury. After winning a war kings rebuilt or added another wing to these structures.
Above this comes the main sanctuary, called the temple of the Delphi or the Oracle. Here an old woman, chosen from the village, acted as a priestess, called the Pythia, and served as the Oracle. She sat inside on a tripod, and in a trance uttered what Apollo said to have put in her mind and mouth, which was then interpreted by the priests who served there. This building is also in utter ruins with only two or three pillars standing.
Temple of the Delphi
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| The Theatre |
On the same slope, above this comes the Theatre. From here you get a full view of all the ruins down below and the valley. This was built in 4th century BC and was remodeled in 2nd century AD. It has an almost semi-circular seating with a seating capacity of up to 4500 spectators. This also declined when the sanctuary’s standing declined.
The modern Amphitheatres which we see all over Roman empire an in the modern days take their model from this Theatre.
As a part of Pythian games, contests in vocal music and songs were held here. Pythian games were one of the four games, including Olympus, held in ancient Greece, the forerunner of the modern Olympic Games. That way the ancient Greece has an everlasting cultural impact on us even in the 21st century. There lies the importance of the Ancient Greek culture.
Even above this is situated the ruins of the Gymnasium. At this point my legs begged me not to go further and I obliged my aching knees and turned back. The gymnasium is supposed to have the ruins of the hall, rooms and the pools and baths on the lower floor, further up the hill.
After visiting the Delphi Archaeological Museum, which contained a lot of artifacts and some of the statues of the athletes, we returned and on the way down also visited the temple of Athena Pronoia. It is a circular structure constructed around 380 BC, with a few of the 20 Doric columns still standing. Inside 10 Corinth columns were supposed to have stood.
Next development after the Doric columns in Greek architecture was Ionic style columns, which had on the top of the column the flat capitols curved on both the sides giving a decorative style to the building. The next evolution was Corinth columns which had a filigree and more decorations and figurines on the top of the columns, giving a better appeal to the eye of the beholder.
Enjoying the beauty of the hills and mountains and the pretty little village houses constructed along the hillocks, we returned to Athens and our rooms by 8 pm. As we sat in a Greek restaurant and munched zucchini balls and meat balls with Greek bred, I mused about these ancient worships
Paul, the early Christian evangelist and missionary of 1st century AD, had visited Macedonia, Athens, Corinth in Achaia region, the old and famous, thriving Greek cities. He preached about a God who is not worshiped in idols and whose promises never fail and who is a Savior par excellence. He died to save us from our sins.
Pointing out to the ‘Alter to an unknown God’ built by the Greeks, Paul declared at Areopagus, Jesus Christ as the unknown God they were worshiping. He was beaten up for his efforts, but Christianity took roots in these areas and small churches came about. And in due course, the pagan worships, like the temple of Delhi and temple of Apollo fell to disuse. Christ triumphed.
Well, glory to God and all thanks to Him, for letting me see these historical and religious sites of importance. I finished my meals and returned to the room with my friend, to sleep and recuperate to face the next day’s adventure, which will be the subject of the next blog. Do await the same!
