Delphi Things to Do Tips by amsterdam_vallon

Archeological Museum of Delphi

There is only one room open, thanks god inside that room, you can see the famous Charioteer!!!

Due to refurbishment operations, the museum will remain closed except for the Charioteer hall and its vestibule. These rooms will temporarily accommodate the following exhibits: Statue of the Charioteer, the silver Bull, bronze cauldron on tripod, white-ground plate, figure-shaped brazier, statue of Antinoos, the Omphalos, portrait of Roman military officer, portrait of philosopher.

The new exhibition will be accessible to visitors as from May 2004

The manumissions

On all the walls of Delphi, you can see some manumissions.

“An inscription of 200-199 B.C. on the polygonal wall at Delphi may serve as an example: ‘Date. Apollo the Pythian bought from Sosibius of Amphissa, for freedom, a female slave, whose name is Niçaea, by race a Roman, with a price of three minae of silver and a half-mina. Former seller according to the law: Eumnastus of Amphissa. The price he hath received. The purchase; however, Nicaea hath committed unto Apollo, for freedom.’ —Names of witnesses, etc.,follow.”

Equestrian statue of Prusias pedestal

This column at the South-East corner of the temple of Apollo held an equestrian statue of Prusias II, King of Bithynia, the ancient country of North-West Asia Minor, in present day Turkey. Prusias II was King from 185 to 149 B.C.

Directions: South-East corner of the Temple of Apollo

The Agora

The Romans remodeled the agora and added some houses and baths built of brick. Down one side of the agora ran an Ionic portico with shops for the pilgrims.

Directions: Up the sacred way, in the sanctuary of Apollo

The Polygonal wall

Retaining wall, built after the destruction of the old temple of Apollo in 548 B.C., to support the terrace on which the new temple was to be erected. The masonry is polygonal and the curved joints of the stones fit perfectly in place. A large number of inscriptions, mostly manumissions, are carved on the stones of the wall.

Directions: Up the sacred way, in the sanctuary of Apollo

The Stadium -Seating area-

On this picture you can see the seating area of the stadium.

Directions: On the top of the sanctuary of Apollo

The Stadium -Back view-

On this picture you can see from the end of the track to the start line.

Directions: On the top of the sanctuary of Apollo

The Stadium

He was constructed in the 5th century B.C. and was remodelled in the 2nd century A.D. at the expense of Herodes Atticus. Then were added the stone seats and the arched monumental entrance. It was in this Stadium that the panhellenic Pythian Games took place.

Directions: On the top of the sanctuary of Apollo

The Theatre of the sanctuary

It was originally built in the 4th century B.C. but the ruins we see today date from the Roman Imperial period. The cavea had 35 rows of stone benches; the foundations of the skene are preserved on the paved orchestra. The theatre was used mostly for the theatrical performances during the great festivals of the sanctuary.

Directions: Up the sacred way, in the sanctuary of Apollo

The Stoa of the Athenians

The stoa, built in the Ionic order, has seven fluted columns, each made from a single stone. According to an inscription cut on the stylobate, it was erected by the Athenians, after 478 B.C., to house the trophies taken in their naval victories over the Persians.

Directions: Up the sacred way, in the sanctuary of Apollo