Day 3 - delphi

We rented a car in Athens and drove two hours to Delphi. The visit starts with the museum.

Entrance to the archaeological site.

Delphi is the center of the world in Greek mythology. Zeus sent two eagles to fly from the opposite edges of the world, and this is where the two eagles met. It’s high up in the mountains.

The rocks are of irregular shapes but fit together perfectly.

The view from up here is amazing. This is what remains of the famous Temple of Apollo where people come to seek answers.

A more complete view of the temple ruins. There was also a treasury here, to keep all the donations people gave in hopes of a good answer from the priests.

The theater of Delphi fits 5,000 people. But who would come all the way up here for a play??

You can see the theater and Temple of Apollo from here.

The stadium of Delphi, built around 4th century B.C., used for the Pythian Games, second only to the Olympics. This is the best preserved ancient stadium in Greece.

This was our favorite spot. Gorgeous view of the archeological site and of the mountains under tree shade. We sat here on the way back down and didn’t want to leave.

We found a nice restaurant on the way back down.

Greek coffee... The trick is to stop drinking when you see coffee grind at the bottom of the cup. I tried to stir up the grind to get another sip and ended up with a mouth full of coffee grind!

The Oracle of Delphi. All important decisions needed the blessing of the priests of the Oracle. Kings and other important people used to travel for weeks to go ask a simple question. But the priests were highly respected, not like the creeps that were portrayed in the movie 300 ( https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=CfGIeNALguE). Oracle was a real place, and people really did travel for weeks or months to come ask for their wisdom in the Temple of Apollo, the god of prophecy. The priestess would go down to a chamber, smell some gas, and get into a trance that allows her to speak the words of Apollo. The priests would then interpret the priestess’ words and give answers to the answer seekers. They later found out there is a fault line, so they believe the gas is actually some sulfurous gas from the ground that would give people a high. It’s crazy how much power these priests had.

Voyagers tips: Park on the side of the street when you drive up to the museum. Start your visit at the museum before walking over to the archaeological site. One ticket covers both places.