Delphi with Kids

The six Doric columns of the Temple of Apollo at Delphi above the olive valley toward the Gulf of Corinth

Delphi with Kids Delphi is a rewarding place to visit with children: an open-air archaeological site that reads as an adventure, with a real ancient theatre to sit in, a stadium to run down, the bronze Charioteer and the winged Sphinx in the cool museum, and the dramatic myths of Apollo and the oracle to … Read more

Galaxidi, Greece

The waterfront of Galaxidi at dusk, its captains mansions and moored boats along the Gulf of Corinth

Galaxidi, Greece Galaxidi is a seaside captains’ town on the north shore of the Gulf of Corinth, a quiet and elegant place of neoclassical sea-captains’ mansions ranged around two natural harbours. It sits about thirty-five kilometres down the mountain from Delphi, and its maritime past, harbourside fish tavernas, and pine-fringed coves make it the coastal … Read more

Arachova, Greece

The stone town of Arachova on the flank of Mount Parnassus, an alternative base near Delphi

Arachova, Greece Arachova is a stone-built mountain town on the south slope of Mount Parnassus, twelve kilometres east of Delphi at about 950 metres. It is Greece’s premier winter and ski resort and a cool summer mountain base, known for its landmark clock tower, its handwoven rugs, and the cosmopolitan tavernas and nightlife stacked up … Read more

The Pythia: Priestess of Delphi

The six Doric columns of the Temple of Apollo at Delphi above the olive valley toward the Gulf of Corinth

The Pythia: Priestess of Delphi The Pythia was the priestess of Apollo at Delphi, the mortal woman who delivered the oracles from inside the Temple of Apollo. Seated on a bronze tripod over a cleft in the rock, she spoke for the god, and kings, cities, and colonists across the Greek world obeyed her pronouncements … Read more

Omphalos of Delphi

The carved marble omphalos of Delphi in the archaeological museum, its surface cut with the net of woollen fillets

Omphalos of Delphi The omphalos of Delphi is the carved stone that marked the navel of the world, the fixed centre of the earth in the belief of the ancient Greeks. A rounded conical block wrapped in a net-like pattern of woollen fillets, it stood in the sanctuary of Apollo, and the surviving marble version … Read more

Sphinx of Naxos

The Sphinx of Naxos raised on its Ionic column in the Delphi Archaeological Museum

Sphinx of Naxos The Sphinx of Naxos is the marble sphinx that the island of Naxos dedicated at Delphi in the sixth century BC, a winged creature with a woman’s head and a lion’s body that crowned a fluted Ionic column more than ten metres high on the Sacred Way. It now stands in the … Read more

Tholos of Delphi

The Tholos of Athena Pronaia at Delphi, the round three-column temple that is the icon of the sanctuary, against the mountains of Parnassus

Tholos of Delphi The Tholos of Delphi is the circular marble temple in the Sanctuary of Athena Pronaia at Marmaria, below the main archaeological site. A ring of twenty Doric columns once surrounded a marble wall lined inside with Corinthian half-columns, and the three re-erected outer columns against the green Pleistos valley form the single … Read more

Delphi and Meteora 2-Day Tour

Roussanou Monastery on its rock pillar at Meteora, one of the six cliff-top monasteries above the plain of Thessaly

Delphi and Meteora 2-Day Tour The Delphi and Meteora 2-day tour joins the two headline sites of central Greece in one loop from Athens: the oracle sanctuary of Delphi on Mount Parnassus on the first day, an overnight at the foot of the rocks in Kalambaka, and the cliff-top monasteries of Meteora on the second. … Read more

Delphi Guided Tour

The reconstructed Treasury of the Athenians in marble on the Sacred Way at Delphi

Delphi Guided Tour A Delphi guided tour walks the archaeological site and the museum with a state-licensed guide, who ties the Sacred Way, the Temple of Apollo, the theatre, the stadium and the bronze Charioteer into the single story of the oracle sanctuary on Mount Parnassus. It is the difference between reading scattered foundations and … Read more

Is Delphi Worth Visiting?

The Tholos of Athena Pronaia at Delphi, the round three-column temple that is the icon of the sanctuary, against the mountains of Parnassus

Is Delphi Worth Visiting? Delphi is worth visiting. The sanctuary of the Oracle of Apollo climbs the slope of Mount Parnassus as a UNESCO World Heritage site, joining the most important oracle of the ancient Greek world to a mountain setting above an olive plain and the Gulf of Corinth. The monuments, the museum masterpieces, … Read more