Delphi

The Sacred Way at Delphi is climbed in the morning light, and the wind off the Parnassus gorge is so strong it feels like the mountain itself is speaking. That is appropriate — this is where, for over a thousand years, people believed the god spoke through a priestess. The Sacred Way winds uphill in a zigzag between the treasuries that the Greek city-states built to thank Apollo for victories, and every few steps the walker stops and turns, and the view opens wider — over the Phaedriades, the twin cliffs that frame the sanctuary, down to the olive groves of the valley that runs to the Gulf of Corinth. At the summit stands the Temple of Apollo, where the Pythia sat in her inner sanctum and delivered prophecies that were famously ambiguous: Croesus, King of Lydia, asked whether he should attack Persia and was told he would destroy a great empire. He attacked, and the empire he destroyed was his own. The ancient theatre above the temple is among the finest places in all of Greece — the stone seats hold the entire sanctuary spread out below, and the acoustics are so perfect that a whisper from the orchestra reaches the back row. Many visitors stay until the last light, when the marble turns honey-gold and the valley below dissolves into shadow.

Delphi was the most important religious sanctuary of the ancient Greek world, regarded by the Delphians as the omphalos — the navel of the world — which Pausanias reports as their belief and Pindar appears to support world and they met above Delphi. The site was inhabited from the Mycenaean period (c. 1400 BC), when it was dedicated to Gaia (the Earth goddess) and guarded by the serpent Python. Apollo killed the serpent and established his oracle, becoming the god of the sanctuary. The oracle was consulted by individuals, cities, and kings on matters both momentous and mundane — war, colonisation, marriage, and politics. The priestess, the Pythia, delivered the god's answers in a state of trance, and her words were interpreted and written down in verse by the priests. The Pythian Games, held every four years, became the second most important Panhellenic festival after the Olympic Games. The sanctuary reached its peak of wealth and influence in the 6th and 5th centuries BC, when the city-states competed to build the most magnificent treasuries along the Sacred Way. The Temple of Apollo (the fourth-century temple, begun around 366 BC after an earthquake destroyed its Alcmaeonid predecessor) was the centre of the cult, while the theatre and stadium hosted performances and competitions. Delphi also housed the Tholos, a mysterious circular building of the 4th century BC, and the Castalian Spring, where pilgrims purified themselves before consulting the oracle. The sanctuary declined with the rise of Christianity — the oracle had long since lost its last certain attestation, in the fourth century AD the temple was destroyed, and the site was abandoned. Rediscovered in the 19th century, it was excavated by the French School at Athens, and its masterpieces — including the bronze Charioteer and the statue of Antinous — are now in the Delphi Archaeological Museum. Delphi was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1987.

The name is recorded by Stephanus of Byzantium in the sixth century AD. His Ethnica is not a book of stories but a dictionary of Greek place-names, and for this one it says: "The Delphians were so called because Apollo sailed to them in the guise of a dolphin". (Ethnica, s.v. Δελφοί).

That is the whole of what an ancient source has to say about how the place got its name. It is a shorter answer than the guidebooks give, and it is the only one with a source behind it.

Delphi sits in the mountains of Sterea Ellada, and the cuisine is mountain food — rich, slow-cooked, and built around what the Parnassos slopes and the Amfissa olive groves produce. The valley of Amfissa, just below the sanctuary, grows some of the finest olives in Greece — big, green, buttery olives that are pressed into a peppery, golden oil. The local speciality is kleftiko — lamb or goat slow-cooked with potatoes and wild oregano in a sealed clay pot, the dish of the mountain rebels who cooked it in buried pits to avoid detection. You will also find kontosouvli (spit-roasted pork seasoned with rosemary), soutzoukakia (meatballs in a rich cumin-scented tomato sauce), and the famous Galaxidi-style fish from the nearby coast. For a taste of the mountains, try the hard, aged goat cheese of Parnassos or the local honey, dark and intensely floral from the thyme-covered slopes. And do not miss a glass of wine from the vineyards of Arachova — a small, increasingly acclaimed appellation. Arachova, 10 minutes above Delphi, has the best tavernas in the area; the village is also famous for its formaela cheese, grilled and served sizzling with a squeeze of lemon.

Delphi is at its best in spring (April to June) and autumn (September to October), when the mountain air is crisp, the wildflowers and maquis cover the slopes, and the light is clear and golden. The winter months (November to February) can be cold and snowy on Parnassos — Arachova is a ski town, and the sanctuary can be dramatically beautiful in the snow, but some paths may be slippery. Summer (July to August) is busy and hot at midday, though Delphi sits at altitude (570 m) and is noticeably cooler than Athens; visit early or late, and note that the ancient theatre and the stadium involve steep steps. The site is at its most magical in the late afternoon, when the crowds thin and the low sun lights up the Phaedriades cliffs.

Delphi has no railway station and no airport, and the simplest car-free arrival is the KTEL Fokidas intercity bus direct from Athens, which leaves from the operator's office at 260 Liosion Street rather than the main Kifissos terminal. Lianokladi station, the terminus of Hellenic Train's Athens-Lianokladi line, is the nearest point on the rail network; it lies below Amfissa, from which KTEL Fokidas runs the local service up the valley to the site. By car the approach is the E75 motorway and then the climb through Amfissa or Arachova.

Arrive when the site opens at 8 am and go straight up to the theatre and stadium before the tour groups arrive — the climb rewards you with the best views and the most solitude. Buy the combined ticket that includes the site and the museum; the museum is one of the best in Greece and the Charioteer alone justifies the visit. Visit the museum before walking the site if you can, so you know what you are looking at. Allow at least three hours for the site and two for the museum. The site is on a steep hillside with uneven steps — wear sturdy shoes and bring water (the upper areas have no shade). The oracle's famous ambiguity has a practical lesson: the interpretation is in the details, so read the noticeboards and the guidebooks. If you have a car, take the road from Delphi to Arachova in the evening for dinner with a view, and if you are there in winter, the ski resort of Parnassos is 20 minutes away. The village of Delphi itself is small and touristy — fine for a night, but Arachova has more character. And one more thing: at the museum, stand in front of the Charioteer for a full minute and look at the inlaid eyes of glass and enamel. He has been watching the mountain for 2,500 years.