Temple of Apollo at Delphi: Home of the Ancient Oracle

The Story of the Temple of Apollo at Delphi

The ancient Greeks believed that Delphi was the center of the world. According to legend, Zeus released two eagles from opposite ends of the earth, and they met above this spot on the slopes of Mount Parnassus. A carved stone called the omphalos, or navel, marked the place. Clinging to a mountainside above a deep valley of olive trees, Delphi became the most sacred site in Greece and the home of its most famous oracle, the voice of Apollo.

Myth tells how Apollo came to Delphi. The place was once guarded by Python, a monstrous serpent, which the young god killed with his arrows. He then claimed the site as his own. In memory of the dragon, his priestess was called the Pythia, and the great festival held here every four years was called the Pythian Games, which included music, poetry and athletic contests. During the winter months, Apollo was said to leave Delphi, and Dionysus was honored in his place.

The Pythia sat on a tripod in the innermost room of the temple and delivered the god's answers, which priests then interpreted for those who came to consult her. Her words could be famously difficult to read. The historian Herodotus tells how King Croesus of Lydia was told that if he attacked Persia, he would destroy a great empire. He attacked and destroyed his own. Before the Persian invasion of 480 BC, the Athenians were told to trust in wooden walls, which Themistocles convinced them meant their fleet, leading to victory at Salamis.

The temple you see today is the last of several built on this spot. An earlier temple burned in 548 BC and was replaced in the late 6th century BC by a grand Doric temple funded with the help of the wealthy Athenian Alcmaeonid family. That building was destroyed by an earthquake in 373 BC, and the temple whose foundations survive was built in the 4th century BC. According to ancient writers, wise sayings such as Know thyself and Nothing in excess were inscribed at its entrance.

The approach to the temple was as impressive as the temple itself. Visitors climbed the Sacred Way, a winding path lined with treasuries and monuments set up by Greek cities to show off their wealth and victories. The rebuilt Treasury of the Athenians still stands beside the path. Above the temple rose a theater, and higher still a stadium where the Pythian Games were held. Before entering, pilgrims purified themselves at the Castalian Spring.

Delphi's influence faded under Roman rule, and the oracle was finally silenced in the late 4th century AD, when the emperor Theodosius I banned pagan worship. Over the centuries the ruins were buried, and a village called Kastri grew up on top of them. In the 1890s the village was moved to a new location so that French archaeologists could begin large excavations, which revealed the sanctuary and treasures such as the bronze Charioteer of Delphi.

Today Delphi is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and one of the most spectacular places in Greece, about 180 kilometers northwest of Athens. Walk up the Sacred Way to the platform of the Temple of Apollo, where a few columns have been raised again, and continue to the theater and the stadium for sweeping views of the valley. Do not miss the Delphi Archaeological Museum, home to the Charioteer, the omphalos and many treasures from the sanctuary.