What You Will Do
After a two hour road trip you will enjoy one of the most beautiful ancient Greek cities and the most important oracle of antiquity, located on the slopes of mountain Parnassos.
Explore the UNESCO World Heritage Site at Delphi, home of the 4th-century-BC Temple of Apollo on this private, full day excursion from Athens. Travel in private, air-conditioned vehicles and get around all the sites your group is interested in visiting within the extensive mountainside archaeological complex before returning comfortably to Athens.
The pan-Hellenic sanctuary of Delphi, where the oracle of Apollo features, was the site of the omphalos, the 'navel of the world'. Blending harmoniously with the superb landscape and charged with sacred meaning, Delphi in the 6th century B.C. was indeed the religious centre and symbol of unity of the Ancient Greek World
The Last Oracle
The site was sacked by Lucius Cornelius Sulla in 86 BC during the Mithridatic Wars
Cancellation Policy
For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.
Itinerary
1
Athens
15 minutes
You will get picked up from your hotel, apartment, Airbnb, or Piraeus port.
2
Mount Parnassus
Mount Parnassus is a mountain in central Greece that towers above Delphi, north of the Gulf of Corinth.
Mount Parnassus offers many advantages to the population of Greece. In peace, it possesses scenic views of the countryside and features olive groves and rolling hills. The mountain is also the location of historically, archaeologically, and culturally significant places of interest (such as Delphi). Recreationally, the slopes of Parnassus provide a medium for hiking (in the three warm seasons) and are skied in winter. Its melting snows provide water to the surrounding communities, reaching out as far as Athens. The mountain is composed of limestone, and its rock contains bauxite, ore that is rich in aluminum. In war, Parnassus has been a center of resistance if need be, providing cover and refuge to partisans.
3
Monastery of Hosios Loukas
30 minutes
Hosios Loukas is a historic walled monastery situated near the town of Distomo, in Boeotia, Greece. It is one of the most important monuments of Middle Byzantine architecture and art and has been listed on UNESCO's World Heritage Sites, along with the monasteries of Nea Moni and Daphnion.
The monastery of Hosios Loukas is situated at a scenic site on the slopes of Mount Helicon. It was founded in the early 10th century AD by the hermit, Venerable (Greek: Hosios) Luke of Steiris (Greek: Lukas), whose relics are kept in the monastery to this day.
The main shrine of the monastery is the tomb of St. Luke, originally situated in the vault, but later placed at the juncture of the two churches. The monastery derived its wealth (including funds required for construction) from the fact that the relics of St. Luke were said to have exuded myron, a sort of perfumed oil which produced healing miracles.
4
Arachova
30 minutes
Free time for a coffee before we start our trip back to Athens.
5
Delphi
1 hour
Arrival at the archaeological site of Delphi after a 2,5 hours trip.
Free time for a walk at:
- sanctuaries of Apollo and Athena Pronaia
- ancient stadium and theater
Duration: 30 minutes
6
Tholos of Athena Pronaia
20 minutes
The tholos at the sanctuary of Athena Pronoia (Ἀθηνᾶ Πρόνοια, “Athena of forethought”) is a circular building that was constructed between 380 and 360 BC. It consisted of 20 Doric columns arranged with an exterior diameter of 14.76 meters, with 10 Corinthian columns in the interior.
The Tholos is located approximately a half a mile (800 meters) from the main ruins at Delphi. Three of the Doric columns have now been restored, making it the most popular site at Delphi for tourists to take photographs.
The gymnasium, which is half a mile away from the main sanctuary, was a series of buildings used by the youth of Delphi. The building consisted of two levels: a stoa on the upper level providing open space, and a palaestra, pool and baths on lower floor. These pools and baths were said to have magical powers, and imparted the ability to communicate to Apollo himself.
7
Delphi Archaeological Museum
1 hour
Delphi Archaeological Museum is one of the principal museums of Greece and one of the most visited. It is operated by the Greek Ministry of Culture. Founded in 1903, it has been rearranged several times and houses the discoveries made at the Panhellenic sanctuary of Delphi, which dates from the Late Helladic (Mycenean) period to the early Byzantine era.
Organized in fourteen rooms on two levels, the museum mainly displays statues, including the famous Charioteer of Delphi, architectural elements, like the frieze of the Siphnian Treasury, and ex-votos dedicated to the sanctuary of Pythian Apollo, like the Sphinx of Naxos. The exhibition floor space is more than 2270m2, while the storage and conservation rooms (mosaics, ceramics). Delphi’s magnificent modern museum, 500m east of town, perfectly complements the ancient site alongside. Which you visit first doesn’t matter, but the treasures collected here will bring your image ancient Delphi to life. Rich and powerful petitioners flocked
8
Temple of Apollo
1 hour
The Temple of Apollo, god of music, harmony, light, healing, and oracles occupied the most important and prominent position in the Delphic Panhellenic Sanctuary. The edifice with the partially restored colonnade visible today dates to the 4th century BC; it is the third temple built at the same place. The famous oracle, the Pythia, operated inside the temple, the location chosen, according to one tradition, due to a sacred chasm beneath the site emitting vapors, which were inhaled by the Pythia. Some ancient writers state that the Pythia then entered a state of delirium and uttering inarticulate cries, which were then turned into equivocal oracles by the priests.
9
Delphi
The Greeks told many stories to explain the origins of Delphi. The site was originally sacred to Gaia (also known as Ge), the ‘Mother Goddess’ whose cult centred on the Korykeon Cave, high on Mt Parnassos. After slaying a snake or she-dragon (known as Pytho) here, Apollo took the local name of Apollo Pythios.
For a thousand years, pilgrims flocked to his sanctuary for guidance. The height of its fame came between the 6th and 4th centuries BCE, after the Amphictyonic League, a federation of 12 tribal states, took control of the sanctuary following the First Sacred War (595–586 BCE). As an autonomous state, Delphi earned great prosperity from benefactors including the kings of Lydia and Egypt, and the Roman emperor Hadrian. Nominally neutral, it was a locus of political power.
10
The Ancient Theater of Delphi
10 minutes
tour of the ancient theater
11
Treasury of the Athenians
15 minutes
Treasury of the Athenians built to commemorate victory at Battle of Marathon
From the entrance of the upper site, continuing up the slope on the Sacred Way almost to the Temple of Apollo, are a large number of votive statues, and numerous so-called “treasuries.” These were built by many of the Greek city-states to commemorate victories and to thank the oracle for her advice which was thought to have contributed to those victories.
These buildings held the offerings made to Apollo; these were frequently a “tithe” or tenth of the spoils of a battle. The most impressive is the now-restored Athenian Treasury, built to commemorate their victory at the Battle of Marathon in 490 BC.
The Siphnian Treasury was dedicated by the city of Siphnos whose citizens gave a tithe of the yield from their silver mines until the mines came to an abrupt end when the sea flooded them.
One of the largest of the treasuries was that of Argos
12
The Ancient Theater of Delphi
15 minutes
The ancient theatre at Delphi was built further up the hill from the Temple of Apollo, giving spectators a view of the entire sanctuary and the valley below. It was originally built in the 4th century BC. The koilon (cavea) leans against the natural slope of the mountain whereas its eastern part overrides a little creek that led the water of the fountain Cassotis right underneath the temple of Apollo.
The orchestra was initially a full circle, with a diameter measuring 7 meters around (23 feet). The rectangular scene building ended up in two arched openings, of which the foundations are preserved today. The theater at Delphi could accommodate about 4,500 spectators.
its façade was decorated with scenes from Hercules’ life in relief. Further repairs and transformations took place in the 2nd century AD. Pausanias mentions that these were carried out under the auspices of Herod Atticus. In antiquity, the theater was used for the vocal and musical contests which formed part of the Pythia
13
Treasury of the Athenians
15 minutes
Stoa of the Athenians
The stoa, or open-sided, covered porch, is located along the base of the polygonal wall retaining the terrace on which the Temple of Apollo sits. The stoa opened to the Sacred Way. The nearby presence of the Treasury of the Athenians suggests that this quarter of Delphi was used for Athenian business or politics, as stoas are generally found in market-places.
Although the architecture at Delphi is generally Doric, a plain style, in keeping with the Phocian traditions, which were Doric, the Athenians did not prefer the Doric.
In the Ionic order they are floral and ornate, although not as much as the Corinthian. The remaining porch structure contains seven fluted columns, unusually carved from single pieces of stone (most columns were constructed from a series of discs joined together). The inscription on the stylobate indicates that it was built by the Athenians after their naval victory over the Persians in 478 BC, to house their war trophies.
14
Delphi
15 minutes
Delphi’s Hippodrome Once Site of Chariot Races
It was at the Pythian Games that prominent political leaders, such as Cleisthenes, the tyrant of Sikyon, and Hieron, the tyrant of Syracuse, competed with their chariots. The hippodrome where these events took place was referred to by Pindar, and this monument was sought by archaeologists for over two centuries.
In 2012, Professor of Classical Archaeology Panos Valavanis declared that he had found the site of the hippodrome at “Gonia,” at the west end of the olive grove at Delphi, nearly 1.5 km northeastern of Itea, running parallel and adjacent to the Kefali mountain range, between the Aghioi Anargyroi and Gla hills.
15
Delphi
15 minutes
Serpentine Column
Immediately east, the replica of the Serpentine Column, or Tripod of the Plataeans, was erected in 2015. The original bronze column commemorated the Greeks who defeated the Persian Empire at the Battle of Plataea (479 BCE). Removed by Constantine the Great in AD 324, it now resides at the Hippodrome of Constantinople, in modern Istanbul.
16
Delphi
Stop At: Delphi, Delphi, Phocis Region, Central Greece
Free time for lunch at a traditional Greek tavern with your friends or shopping at Arahova Village
17
Delphi
THE POLYGONAL WALL
This retaining wall was built to support the terrace housing the construction of the second temple of Apollo in 548 BC. Its name is taken from the polygonal masonry of which it is constructed. At a later date, from 200 BC onward, the stones were inscribed with the manumission contracts of slaves who were consecrated to Apollo. Approximately a thousand manumissions are recorded on the wall.
The sacred spring of Delphi, called the Castalian Spring, lies in the ravine of the Phaedriades. The preserved remains of two monumental fountains that received the water from the spring date to the Archaic period and the Roman, with the latter cut into the rock.
18
Delphi
1 hour
Free time for lunch at a traditional Greek tavern with your friends and family or shopping.
Show 17 more stops