Inside The Most Mysterious Sanctuary of Ancient Greece Delphi

Hello, hello my friend! Welcome to my studio. Today I'd like to talk about the cult center of Delphi, its history, architecture, oracles, great myths and art. When I looked at the images of Delphi before going to Greece, I wasn't impressed with the site. It seemed that not much was left there, but a few columns and stones. However, when I actually reached that place, I was stunned by Delphi's ethereal beauty and historical significance. Situated at the top of the Mount Parnassus, the breathtaking view of ancient Delphi channels mysticism, history, and unique culture. This is the place where Zeus marked the center of the wall, God Apollo slayed the serpent, the oracle uttered her prophecies that influenced ancient Greek history, the Pythian games came about, and the Greeks worshipped their gods with incredible offerings. Delphi couldn't be a more beautiful place for a temple to Apollo. According to ancient legends, the first settlement of Delphi was a shrine of the Earth's mother Gaia. Ice Age people worshipped her divine powers. When the Mycenaeans lived in the village, Delphi was already known for its divine oracle and prophecies around the 2nd millennium BC. In antiquity, reaching an important cult center and sanctuary of Delphi would be a long and tough journey traveling from Attica or other places. It would be a place of cleansing, worship, and rich offerings to receive guidance from the oracle. When you reach Delphi, you'll see the ruins and foundations of both temples and votive offerings in the sacred way with some reconstruction and artifacts in the archaeological museum. The sanctuary got destroyed after the last emperor in the name of Christianity wiped out the temple of Apollo and art in the sanctuary around 390 AD. Only in the 17th century considerable interest emerged with major excavations taking a shape later, and Greece became independent from Turks in 1829 and archaeologists began researching the site. They removed a small village built atop Delphi, unearthed the ancient ruins in 19th century. In 1935, the archaeologists found the pit below the paving of the sacred way filled with precious materials that got destroyed in the earthquake of 548 BC. You can also see some pretty amazing archaeological finds like the Naxian sphinx and the bronze charioteer. And on your way to Delphi, stop by a small and beautiful town, you'll find the perfect spot for selfies with a stunning landscape below. Now let's dive in into the architecture and history of Delphi. The place consists of many buildings and votive offerings and I'm gonna go through some of them. You can dive in a lot deeper by reading the blog I include the links below. The first amazing building is the Follows of Delphi. It's one of the interesting ancient Greek buildings. It's a masterpiece of ancient Greek architecture because of its elaborate decoration, polychromies and exceptional craftsmanship. In antiquity, the Follows would stand out among the monuments of the century of Athena Paranaia. Dated to the early 4th century BC, the circular edifice consists of a core structure built from the pentelic marble. The floor was made of white marble in the center and dark limestone from Ulysses towards the circumference. The marble roof had layered square panels and bows. The outside space had decorations in the shape of dancing women, clay tiles or marble slabs. Comprised of 20 door columns, the outer colonnade supported a frieze with triglyphs and metopes. What we see today at the site is just three columns that were restored in the 1930s to give us a better visual reference of the building. You can see the small interior metopes of the Follows in the nearby museum. These are broken pieces of figures from Greek mythology and history. Doric order architectural style features the triglyphs, metopes and the Anthemion flower decorating the frieze of the outer colonnade. Triglyph is a vertically channeled angular tablet that defines the Doric style. Metopes are either painted or sculpted decorations set between these triglyphs. The Anthemion flower is one of the main decorations in Greek architecture and pottery. If we take off the triglyphs and metopes of the Greek building, it would become The followers of Delphi had a cellar with a staircase inside it. The building was destroyed in fire in the 1st century BC. The cellar temple is the inner windowless chamber with a door in It usually contained a cult statue or a table with precious offerings. The original function of the building is unknown and it was possibly associated with the cult of Mother Earth, the first divinity worshipped in the sanctuary. The open area of circular hollows, which means the threshing floor, used to have religious significance with a ritual held every eight years in that place. The ritual showed a reenactment of the god Apollo slaying the serpent. Polychrome means many colors in Greek. There are traces of colors left on some ancient Greek sculptures that show cinnabar red, yellow ochre, carbon-based black and blue pigments. It's very interesting to see how colorful those temples could have been if they remained in place. The Rock of Sibyl. The oldest cult center in Delphi was made of rocks that had fallen from the dark limestone cliffs on Mount Parnassus. According to a local tradition, the first prophetess of Delphi, the Sibyl, stood here to utter her oracles. It's believed she had foreseen the fall of Troy and the ancient sanctuary of Mother Earth appeared around the sacred spring in this area, meaning that Delphi was the center of the world. The sacred Amphalos of Delphi or the navel stone, believed to have fallen from the heavens. Devoid of artistic shape, it was a conical stone thrown down by Zeus to find the center of the world, the Earth's navel. According to the Greek myths, Zeus released two golden eagles to fly in the opposite directions from the Mount Olympus and these two birds met over Delphi and Zeus threw down a stone there which became the Earth's navel thereafter. This marble representation of the Amphalos is a Hellenistic or Roman copy of the archaic Amphalos which was kept inside the temple of Apollo and it was inside the Adyton. The Adyton was a restricted area within the cellar of a Greek or Roman temple. It was the most sacred part of the temple, often located at the end of the cellar and translates to innermost sanctuary shrine. The ancient writings suggest that the sacred tripod, prophetic laurel and Amphalos were all kept in the Adyton of the temple of Apollo, where Pythia pronounced her oracles. And the relief decoration of the stone imitates the weave of the agranum, the thick woollen net with attached bands of wool that covered the original sacred Amphalos stored inside the Adyton. There were many copies of the sacred Amphalos that existed at the sanctuary. The exhibited stone may have been the one witnessed by the travel writer in the 2nd century AD. According to him, the tied bands had the points with gorgon-shaped precious stones and the two golden eagles were affixed to its top. It's quite fascinating to learn that the Amphalos played an important role in the oracles predictions, suggesting that Pythia talked to gods and channeled her oracles through this stone. Moreover, it's speculated that Apollo buried the python that was the earth spirit under the Amphalos, and that allowed for this communication. Hello, my name is Veronika Winters. I'm a Russian-American portrait artist. I create visionary art in colored pencil and oil paint. Please check out my website Veronikasart.com to see new art or to take a video course. Thanks so much, peace, bye-bye. The Delphic Tripod Apollo, Hercules and Pythia. The Greek god Apollo arrived at Delphi around 1000 BC. In legends and myths, the oracle of the earth goddess Gaia was guarded by a great servant, the python. Apollo killed the serpent with an arrow and became known as the python Apollo. Apollo is the most important oracular god in ancient Greece. He helped the ancient Greeks navigate decision-making by knowing the future and communicating thoughts of his father Zeus. Therefore, the oracle was so important to the nation, giving people the divine guidance they needed to live their lives. So, consultations with the oracle took place in the temple of Apollo on a monthly basis. The rituals happened inside the temple's editor. A priestess sat upon a tripod to cry out her oracles. Following a purification ritual at the local Castilian spring, she believed to be in a trance answering questions of visitors. Some speculate that she was on drugs doing that. Pouring out cries got engraved on stone and those cries received interpretation of priests and were written down into verses. People asked different questions in regards to their personal life, military and religious conquests. The city-states also asked questions that were written down on a sealed tablet to travel back to them. According to the museum's description, 615 prophecies were saved in literally sources and inscriptions. The interpretation of such prophecies or oracles was ambiguous because the person who asked the as well. Therefore, God Apollo was also known as ambiguous. He represented the best virtues, mainly art, music, poetry, beauty, health and reasonable behavior. Apollo's younger brother Dionysus was also worshipped in Delphi. In ancient Greco-Roman culture, Dionysus has a beautiful slender body and long wavy hair and sometimes is thought to be Apollo and vice versa. Dionysus was the god of fun and irrational behavior, so the opposing force of Apollo. And the two gods were worshipped at different times of the year in Delphi. In Greek mythology, Apollo was the son of and a titan mother Leta, goddess of darkness. Python was a gigantic serpent, the son of Gaia, that lived inside the earth in Delphi, in accordance with the ancient Greeks' belief. Hera, the wife of Zeus, got upset and decreed to kill Leta before giving birth to her child. Eventually, Leta gave birth to twins in a cave, Apollo and Artemis or Diana, the god of light and the sun and the goddess of the moon and the hunt. Hera sent the python to kill them, but baby Apollo protected his family and slayed the serpent, shooting arrows with his bow. In classical Greco-Roman sculpture, Apollo is the ideal of male physical beauty. He was shown nude with arrows and a bow, young, tall feet, beardless, with long wavy hair collected in a bow-like knot and beautiful well-proportioned face. There are many depictions of Apollo in art history, I think the most beautiful ones are the Belvedere Apollo in the Vatican and Bernini's Apollo and Daphne in Rome. It's believed that this is a marble statue that's a copy of a bronze original created by the Greek sculptor from the 2nd century. Usually it's on view in the Vatican, but it's under restoration in 2024. Apollo as an archer, it is the sculpture, a bronze sculpture found in Pompeii and this bronze sculpture of Apollo was buried by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD and discovered in the early 19th century. The bronze statue of Apollo was made using the lost wax technique. Greeks made the model in clay, then in wax and then casted it in bronze pieces that they assembled with a fusion welding technique and then they had a finish over it. They often put the eyes made of stones and glass like you can see here. The lost wax process is explained at the Getty Museum. I absolutely love this sculpture created by Bernini, it's called Apollo and Daphne. It's made of marble in 1625 and it's on display at the Borghese Gallery in Rome. In Greek mythology, Apollo, the god of light, poetry and music, falls in love with Daphne, a nymph and the daughter of the river god Phineus. Apollo angered the Cupid Eros, the god of love, by mocking his bow and archery skills after killing the python. In retaliation, Eros shot two arrows, one hit Apollo with a golden tip causing him to fall in love with the first person he saw and the other hit Daphne with a lead tip, making her hate romantic advances. When Apollo chases her, she calls for help from her father and he transforms Daphne into a laurel tree to protect her. Apollo later adorns his lyre with the laurel leaves and crowns the victors with laurel leaf crowns. This depiction of Apollo and Daphne comes from the Ovid's Metamorphoses. This is a marble statue of Apollo with a kithara displayed at the British Museum. It's also made of marble and it's a Roman copy of a Hellenistic original of about 200-150 BC. And it was excavated in the Temple of Apollo at Tyrene, which is modern Libyan. This is a beautiful marble sculpture of the so-called Apollo Lycaeus and this is a Roman copy of a Greek bronze of the mid-4th century BC. This is a very famous statue of Apollo that stood in the outdoor gymnasium near Athens. The legs got restored from many shattered pieces. The Cleveland Apollo or Apollo the Python Slayer is a very beautiful bronze sculpture that dates back to 350-200 BC. I think it's one of my favorites because it's so perfect and the curvature of his body is just pure visual perfection. And finally I'd like to show you another sculpture. Apollo and Heracles fight over the Delphic tripod. In Greek mythology Heracles and Apollo half-brothers by Zeus fight over the Delphic tripod in a story that appears in numerous vase paintings. Heracles travels to Apollo's sanctuary at Delphi to consult the oracle, but when she doesn't give him the answer he wants, he becomes enraged and tries to steal the tripod to establish his own oracle. Apollo, who holds the tripod sacred, intervenes and the two half-brothers wrestle over it. Zeus eventually tries to break up the fight by throwing a thunderbolt between the brothers. After they're separated, Hercules receives an oracle that condemns him. Hercules eventually returns the tripod to Apollo and reconciles with him. The temple of Apollo at Delphi was first built of stone in the 8th century BC. The ruins of Delphi are of the third temple that survived until the Romans. The first temple was destroyed in fire in 548 BC and the second one was destroyed in the earthquake in 373 BC. The third and last temple of Apollo got purposefully destroyed with the rise of Christianity around 390 AD. Roman emperors wiped out pagan culture in Greece including the sanctuary of Apollo. The first temple of Apollo was the centerpiece of the sanctuary as the abode of the god and the seat of the oracle. By the 6th century BC its fame had spread throughout the entire world. The first temple of Apollo was founded by the god himself, however the fire of 548 BC destroyed it. So the second temple of Apollo was rebuilt on a much larger scale and the Greeks extended the length of the terrace of the temple, they built a long retaining wall and the construction of the temple lasted for many years and required enormous financing raised in generous contributions of Greek cities, colonies and foreign rulers. And the administration of this new temple was associated with an aristocratic Athenian family that was living there, so they oversaw the construction of the building. They hired famous Athenian sculptor to create sculptures and decoration for the temple. The earthquake of 373 BC destroyed this temple. The rockfall buried much of the construction including the statue of the charioteer we can see in the museum today. So the third temple of Apollo, it's a Doric temple, it opened in 330 BC. It had beautiful sculptural decorations set on the pediments that depicted god Apollo and the muses on the east side and Dionysus and other figures on the west side. Persian shields taken by the Athenians at the Battle of Marathon were nailed to the metapiece. Archaeological excavations didn't reveal much about the temple's interior space as it was destroyed to the ground by the last Roman emperor. It's assumed that the gilded statue of Apollo stood in the cellar and there were wall engravings and the oracular tripod and the navel stone would be found under the cellar's floor. This is a white ground calyx found in a tomb in Delphi and displayed in the archaeological museum. Calyx is a cup with a shallow bowl and a tall stem crafted in ancient Greece. The artist crowned Apollo with a wreath of myrtle leaves. The store is a portico consisting of a back wall, a colonnade in front and a roof. The store of the Athenians at Delphi incorporated the pre-existing polygonal wall dating back to 560 BC. It had seven marble columns with just four existing today. Built between 510 and 470 BC, the store of the Athenians was a building in the Ionic style that was located at the center of Apollo sanctuary. Measuring 330 meters long, the store housed the trophies from the Athenians' naval victories. The facade had seven monolithic marble columns supporting a wooden roof. The store was supported by the polygonal retaining wall of the temple of Apollo in its back. The carved inscription left there notes that the Athenians dedicated this store, the robes from the boats and the proud figureheads to the god after defeating the Persians. The building appears to have been constructed with public funds to promote Athens' leading role in the victory against the Persians. And I think it's really interesting to see how ancient Greeks constructed their buildings. In some cases it looks like they repurposed much older structures, construction materials and methods of holding stones together in their architecture. Well-preserved polygonal retaining wall of the temple of Apollo was built in the 6th century BC. It provided support to the terrace with a temple for centuries. The construction blocks and their perfectly fitted curved joints is a construction that features precision and artistic perfection. Many carvings with about 800 inscriptions stretch across the entire length of the wall. In the sanctuary of Athena, the goddess was worshipped as the patroness of wisdom, fertility and health. The eastern part of the precinct retains two porous stone foundations of the archaic temples dedicated to Athena. These Doric-style temples date to the mid-7th century BC and 500 BC respectively. The second temple had a surrounding colonnade consisting of six columns on its narrow sides and 12 columns on its long sides. You know, there is not much left of the sanctuary of Athena, unfortunately, it's just descriptions and excavations. Just like the temple of Apollo, it was reconstructed three times. And the third temple of Athena was made of a local gray limestone in the mid-4th century BC. The facade had six Doric columns. The winged goddess Nike was the symbol of victory who expressed the will of the gods in Greek myths. She named and rewarded the winners. Many Nikes were found at the sanctuary in Delphi coming from public buildings. Beyond the sacred way monuments you can find the ruins of over 20 treasuries in which gifts to the shrine were displayed. They had various architecture offerings and dedication. Unfortunately, not much is left but the stones of some foundations. However, the Doric temple treasury of the Athenians is reconstructed to view. You can read about different treasuries on my blog. I'm going to mention a couple of them here. The Scythian treasury is created in the Ionic order. The treasury is the first one built out of marble completely around 530 BC. It consisted of three types of marble, Scythian, Naxian, and Parian. And this treasury had rich sculptural decorations, some depicting scenes from the Trojan War. It was painted in bright colors of blue, red, gold, and green. The pediment over the facade of the treasury depicted Zeus attempting to prevent Hercules from stealing the Delphi tripod. And the marble roof had sculptures and gutters depicting the lion's head. The pediment also had sculptures of Nikes and Sphinx. And it's just one of the most beautiful treasuries created as a votive offering to the gods. The sacred pathway faces the treasury of the Athenians. It's a stone building with two fluted Doric columns made of Parian marble. The Athenian treasury looks like a mini temple that was built with a purpose to keep the Athenian offerings to the Delphic Oracle. The Doric frieze shows 30 metopes, and the roof was made of marble painted in red. The Athenians built the treasury after 490 BC to thank the god Apollo for their victory at the Battle of Marathon. The sides have depictions of scenes from the life of Hercules and Theseus. There are many inscriptions inside this treasury related to the rituals dating from the 3rd century BC. There are a bunch of other treasuries, link is in the description below. Next are the theater and the python stadium. The theater is considered being the best preserved monument in Greece. The Delphic theater hosted musical and religious festivals, the oracular rituals, and the python games dedicated to the victory of Apollo over the python. The stadium was built around 450 BC, where the python games began as musical contests. The ruins of the theater and stadium have been excavated together. The stadium that hosted the games is partially built into the side of Mount Parnassus. The original architectural finish of the theater is unknown, it's speculated that the spectators sat on wooden seats or on the ground. The first theater was made of stone in the 4th century BC. Deep amphitheatrical shape had a seating capacity of 5 000 people. The python games were a series of athletic and musical competitions held every four years in ancient Greece to honor the god Apollo's victory. The python games originated in the 6th century BC and continued until the 4th century AD. The python games featured competitions in a variety of events including athletics, music, poetry, chariot races, declamation reading, singing, and drama. This event was more than just a game, it was a big social and musical event with international crowds, diplomats, and politicians showing their power. The winners of the athletic games brought fame to themselves and their cities. They also received trophies in the shape of tripods and laurel leaves. And built around 4th century BC, the stadium here was about 178 meters long, situated at the highest spot in the century above the theater. The total capacity of that stadium was about 6 500 people. The stadium was abandoned in 394 AD. It was covered with earth and became a place for pasture. The gymnasium dates back to the 4th century BC and it was nestled between the fountain and the sanctuary of Athena. It consisted of several buildings including baths and restaurants. The running track was 6 meters wide and 172 meters long. The upper terrace had the long portico of 83 door columns used for athletics, you know, sand covered the floor for athletes to exercise. The lower terrace had the ancient Greek wrestling school and the pool with a sanctuary. Not bad for the gymnasium, right guys? So, if you walk through the site, you can imagine seeing the monuments placed on the sacred way. They don't exist today, it's just all stones and ruins. But the sacred way in Delphi was a short road that led up to the temple of Apollo. The stone paving slabs covering the sacred way belong to late antiquity, line up with incredible monuments, culture and treasures on both sides. This road represented the wins in ancient Greek history as the Greeks and the wealthy made these offerings to the gods. As such, Delphi was an important art center because skillful art and sculpture were created by famous Greek artists and offered as votives to the gods. Unfortunately, only the basis of these incredible monuments exist today. However, they have so many inscriptions there that the Delphic sanctuary is probably the largest open-air library of real ancient texts in existence today. There are numerous votives placed on the sacred way. The most famous one is the serpentine column. It was closest to the altar standing next to a bronze sculpture of Apollo, which doesn't exist today. And one of famous votives originally placed near the temple of Apollo was a bronze bull with a stone base. There are just so many votives, you can read about them on my blog. The altar of the church, the people of Chios paid for this monument in the 5th century BC. There is an inscription on the base of the altar stating that the Chios had the right to consult the oracle before other Greeks. There was, you know, some pedestals like the sun god statue on a pedestal located behind the serpentine column. And so the most famous offering is the serpentine column or platan tripod standing in Delphi today. And it's a copy of the original taken from sanctuary by Constantine the Great and placed in Constantinople in 324 BC. It's in Istanbul today and it's still standing there. And the serpentine column consists of an inscripted base with 13 coils, inscribed 31 Greek states who fought with the Persians, and three bronze intertwined snakes and golden tripod top this column. And based on some Ottoman illustrations, the serpent heads existed at the top of the column until the 17th century. Inside the museum, you can find the remains of some of discovered votive offerings. One of such offerings is the votive offering of Chios. This offering consisted of nine statues placed on a long narrow base. The sculptural group is one of the most important offerings made by a private person to the Delphic sanctuary of Apollo. And the inscription mentions the names and most important accomplishments of the family members. Next votive offering is the giant Naxian sphinx. And I have a separate video about the sphinxes. The giant Naxian sphinx in Delphi got created around 560 BC. Naxos, a wealthy island of the Cyclades, sent a gigantic offering to the sanctuary of Apollo, the statue of the mythical sphinx. Its colossal size, imposing appearance, and location in the sanctuary near the Rock of commemorated political and artistic supremacy of Naxos in the archaic era. This demonic creature with the female face and enigmatic smile was supposed to be a warning of the evil. Placed on the capital of a 12 meter tall ionic column, the sphinx became the oldest element in the ionic order in Delphi. Greek Koros. These are sons of Herod's priestess Greek Koros in Delphi. This sculpture dates to 610 BC and it's almost two meters high, made of pear and marble. Discovered at the Apollo sanctuary, they were made and dedicated to Apollo by the people of Argos. According to the museum's description, there is a myth about two brothers. They helped their mother Herod to pull her chariot to the sanctuary and as a reward the goddess granted them a peaceful death in their sleep. The charioteer. This is a bronze sculpture done in classical period 478 BC. It's a tall sculpture. This well-preserved monument was part of the voted offering receipt after the python games. Wearing a chiton, the figure stood on his chariot with horses. He has the eyes inlaid with glass and stones. The figure is reminiscent of a Doric column, repeating long and simple lines in his clothing. His beautiful feet and slender figure make me think of a female form, although his hair is short and a simple band around his head speaks of his victorious status. And there are a bunch of other monuments I cannot really include into this video, it's just a lot. I'd like to mention the column with the dancers, because it's displayed in the museum. It's displayed next to the amphoras. Decorated with the acanthus leaves, this base supported an 11 meter high column with three dancers at its top. It's speculated that the amphora stone crowned the column with dancers and their height exceeded two meters, while originally the column was around 11 meters high. I cannot help but mention the statue of Antinous. It's displayed inside the museum. It's made of pear and marble in Roman period around 130 AD, and Antinous was a very young and beautiful man who was a companion to the emperor Hadrian around 117 AD. Antinous had barely reached adulthood when he drowned in the Nile. The emperor was upset greatly and ordered to make a lot of statues and monuments dedicated to this young man for godlike worship rituals and admiration in his honor. One of such sculptures was found in Delphi during the excavations. The statue was still shining because of oil used in antiquity to polish the skin. The holes in his hair served as attachments for a bronze laurel leaf wrap to crown the boy's head. Both the presidents of the python games and the priest placed this statue inside the sanctuary. There are many golden elements found at the museum such as griffins, gargoyles. The helmet crest is beautiful. I'd like to thank you so very much for watching this video. I hope you found it interesting. It was a month of just pure research, gathering information, collecting pictures, trying to figure out how to present the enormous information in this concise manner was quite challenging. You can find the links to the original sites that I visited on my blog. It would mean a lot to me if you share this video or my channel with your friends. It's really important. I appreciate your support. Thanks so much for watching. Take care. Bye-bye.