The Sanctuary of Apollo at Delphi

The story of the Oracles at Delphi's Temple of Apollo, are well known. So many stories and myths have the oracles involved, it is one of the central pieces in Greek history.

Delphi fell into disuse fairly soon after Roman takeover of the Greek lands; and although a number of Roman emperors supported Delphi; once Christianity took root, it was soon forgotten. Unlike other sites, there were few conversions to churches and mosques; partly because the site was impacted by earthquakes.

This has also meant that the site is well preserved - there are seemingly more well preserved buildings and statues in this area than all the other ancient Greek sites we have visited this trip.

Delphi also neatly ties in some of the cities we visited on this trip - the demise of Troy was proclaimed by the oracles at Delphi; the serpent column that once stood at Delphi can now be seen in Istanbul (taken by Emperor Constantine) and the kings of Pergamon financed a few Delphi buildings and monuments.

Sadly, the highlight - temple of Apollo is one of the more badly preserved buildings. But the grandeur of the site remains - and if replicas of what is stored in the museum is put up; this site can almost bring back the heyday of Delphi from 2000 years ago!