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 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 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 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 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 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 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? 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
One Day in Delphi One day in Delphi covers the whole sanctuary: the archaeological site at opening, the climb up the Sacred Way to the Temple of Apollo and the stadium, the museum with the bronze Charioteer, and the Castalian Spring and the Tholos of Athena Pronaia beside the road, with a village lunch and … Read more
Where to Stay in Delphi The best place to stay in Delphi is the modern village on the slope of Mount Parnassus, a ten-minute walk from the archaeological site gate, where south-facing balconies hang over the Pleistos gorge above a sea of olive trees running down to the Gulf of Corinth. The stone town of … Read more