Visit Delphi by bus. Mindblowing!

chrisandjane aboard Liveloula
Chris Cooke
Thu 15 May 2014 16:33

38:22.6N 22:23.15E

 

Thursday 15 May get bus to mindblowing Delphi.

Hot, just a few clouds over Delphi after lunch

 

We caught the bus to Delphi. 3.50 euros, each each way, changing at Itea. Took just over an hour. Wow! Mindblowing spectacle perched on precipitous cliff edge with stunning views up and down the valley. Seems tourists (pilgrims) have been heading here since 4th century AD, to ask advice of its oracle (a lady fortune teller, usually elderly to avoid them running off with a pilgrim), and were charged exorbitant disembarkation fees. So has always been a tourist trap and good earner. Seeing bronze and other artefacts dating back to 8th century BC is difficult to grasp. Why were all these temples and monuments built here? Well, because Zeus released two eagles at opposite ends of the world and they met here! Seems was a bit like Kensington, with the neighbours wanting to outdo each other as various temples etc were sponsored by different regions. The Sphinx from Aegean island of Naxos must have been impressive  - female face, lion body, winged back mounted on a 12.5m column (same as length of D`fly’s mast) to ward off evil. Various temples (some round, some rectangular) with magnificent columns, lots of statues and carvings, a theatre, gymnasium (and bath for cool down), and a running track for the Pythian games. (Track was 177.5m, and for distance races they had to run up n back, and up n back etc!) Its own city state. All ended in 338BC when a Macedonian called Phillip invaded S Greece and crushed the setup in the Battle of Chaironeia, followed by some plundering. Looks like the oracle continued to spout for quite a few years, and annoyed the Romans when they were about, so Nero carted away 500 bronze statues.  Amazing day out.

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