Temples Etc.: Ancient

December 18, 2009

Delphi, Greece

Location: Greece: Delphi
Original purpose: Oracle
Affiliation: Ancient Greek
Current purpose: Museum, archaeological site
Open to public: Yes, $

Within a couple of hour of driving on the slope of a mountain lies what used to be one of the most sacred places in Ancient Greece – the Delphi. It used to be a spiritual centre and a residence of an oracle (a young girl who would predict future through spirit-inflicted trance). According to the legend, the site was originally selected by Zeus, who simultaneously released two eagle from two ends of the earth, and they met right at that spot. Hence the spot was proclaimed to be the navel of the earth.

Obviously the predictions of the oracle were most times vague and open for the interpretation. Nonetheless the popularity of Delphi was enormous, resulting in a magnificent spiritual complex being built on the spot. Some of the most notable structures there were the temple of Apollo, the “navel” itself (there is no consensus on what it was actually supposed to be), the site of Pythian Games (athletic complex) and treasuries of various ancient Greek city-states (where citizens of those states would deposit offerings to Apollo).

There are only three messages remain that are clearly legible on the walls of the temple:

Know thyself

Nothing in excess

Make a pledge and mischief is nigh

The museum built right next to the site has a very rich collection of the artefacts recovered from the site. The site itself is only partially open to tour groups, with some areas still under exploration. The best way to reach Delphi is from Athens with an organized tour group.

Reproduction of what Delphi might have looked like in its glory days.

The original "Navel"

Another, more decorated "Navel"

Ruins of the "sports complex"

The wall of the Temple of Apollo with precisely fit uneven stones

Acropolis, Athens, Greece

Location: Greece: Acropolis
Original purpose: Temple complex
Affiliation: Ancient Greek
Current purpose: Museum
Open to public: Yes, E11, Some parts closed for reconstruction

Acropolis is, perhaps, the most well-recognised temple complex in the world.
It has been dominating the Athenian skyline for many millennia.
It appears that there always was some kind of temple or sacred place on top of this hill from Neolithic sacrificial grounds to most recently a church and a mosque. Even Nazi sought it out as an important achievement in their quest for global domination, widely celebrating installation of their flag atop the hill.
Most recently, after centuries of serious archaeological and reconstruction efforts, the Acropolis boasts a number of major temples (or what’s left or had been reconstructed of them): Parthenon (temple of Athena), Old Temple of Athena, Erechtheum (celebration of the competition between Athena and Poseidon), Athena Nike, Eleusinion (temple of Demeter) and many minor ones.
It is magnificent trying to reconstruct what it may have been looked like at the top of its glory.
It is also interesting to contemplate that there are still visible representations of many eras and epochs built on top of each other.