Delphi, the centre of the world

When Zeus wanted to find the centre of the world he apparently released two eagles from the eastern and western extremities, and they crossed at Delphi, from then on known as the navel of the earth. We know it best as the site of the oracle which gave largely unhelpful answers to questions posed by visitors seeking wisdom. I overheard a tour guide giving the example that when someone asked if an expected child would be a boy or a girl, the answer came: "Girl no boy." So was that "Girl, no. Boy." Or "Girl, no boy"?

We had set off before breakfast from our overnight stop at the harbour in Itea on the Gulf of Corinth, less than half an hour from Delphi. The site sprawls up a steep Southwestern slope of Mount Parnassus, and what little parking exists is alongside the winding main road. We knew it would not be easy to find a space, and we pulled into the last available gap in front of the museum at 9.10am. Perhaps we need not have been so concerned, as everyone else ignored the yellow lines and parked by the side of the road, but it was good to know we could relax, have some breakfast, and take the spaniels to explore the town.

The car park in Delphi - nearly all of it

The theatre and Temple of Apollo

After a mooch around the almost parallel streets, linked by regular flights of steps, we left Max and Elsa to snooze and headed for the archaeological site. The centre of Ancient Delphi was the temple of Apollo, in which a sequence of women priestesses entered a trance, after breathing the mysterious vapour coming through the rocks, and made their prophecies, which were then interpreted by priests. The temple was approached by a winding path, and over the centuries other temples and treasuries had been built to store the valuable offerings to the Gods, and to ask for intercession. Remnants of these line the way as you climb up to the Temple of Apollo, now just a few pillars, but clearly showing the vast scale of the structure. Above the temple is a theatre, and higher again is the stadium where the Pythion games were held, a four yearly event second only to the Olympics in scale and importance.

The rock of the Sybil, first podium of the oracle

The Temple of Apollo is at least the third to be built on the site, and dates only back to the 4th century BCE. The original was at least 400 years older. The site of Delphi was revered and recognised by successive regimes, even some of the Roman emperors valued and restored it. But it fell into disuse in about 200 CE. That means that for a thousand years it was a place of great cultural significance, growing, evolving, being destroyed and rebuilt. We struggled to think of anywhere comparable. 

Elsa does like a good view

It was a sunny 18º in Delphi, so we sat on a terrace overlooking the valley below and had lunch and a cold beer. Max made friends with a little boy from a neighbouring table, while Elsa enjoyed the view south towards Itea, where we had spent the night. Then it was back to the van for them so we could pop into the museum to see some of the more remarkable finds: friezes, statues and bronze artefacts. A short drive higher into the mountains brought us to our overnight stop in Arachova, a mountain town where the streets were teeming with visitors on this sunny Sunday, but somehow we safely negotiated the crowds and parked up in a popular viewpoint.

Beer, sun, view...

Memorial at Thermopylae

The weather has certainly taken a turn for the better since we left Meteora. Our first night was spent near Lamia on a mountain road leading only to a monastery, and we were able to take the spaniels for a walk along a road almost unused by traffic in bright sunshine and light jumpers. We stopped in Lamia for dog food and other supplies, and then took a short detour to visit the site of the battle of Thermopylae. Google supplied us with the details of the encounter between the Persians and troops from assorted Greek city states in 480 BCE.  Our memories from childhood of a valiant last stand by 300 Spartans defending a narrow pass proved a little wide of the mark, but it is still a good tale, and the 300 Spartans, with assistance from many others, did hold the Persians long enough for the bulk of the army to retreat. We admired the memorial, dipped our hands in the warm water of the nearby springs, and then decided to bypass the museum and the available overnight parking and move on. 

Another terrible place to spend the night

WWI cemetery in Bralos

It proved to be a good decision, as we found a beautiful spot beside a viewpoint on another mountain road to spend an undisturbed night. The next morning we took our time driving along the beautiful E65 as it winds south through the mountains to the Gulf of Corinth. 

Along the E65

We stopped to visit a British Military Cemetery, tended by an enthusiastic caretaker in a Commonwealth War Graves Commission sweatshirt who showed us the 1934 printed booklet listing all those who were buried in Greece. He had no English at all, and our conversation began along the lines of "Bang, bang," (negative body language) "Grippe!" from which I eventually deduced that they had died from flu. Closer inspection of the booklet confirmed that most of those in the cemetery at Bralos had died near or after the end of the First World War from flu, or in some cases malaria, at a military hospital nearby. Having paid our respects at the cemetery, we arrive in Itea early enough for a walk along the sea front in warm sunshine, and a little dip for the spaniels. A cheap and cheerful meal at a nearby grill preceded an early night in preparation for the day in Delphi.

The seafront at Itea

What Elsa saw

Arachova, tonight's view

Inside the museum at Delphi