Ancient Temple of Apollo in Delphi 🏛️

The ruins of the ancient Temple of Apollo. Perched along the side of Mt Parnassus, this site was home to the famous Oracle of Delphi. Originally called the “Pythia”, she would host dignitaries from around the ancient world. After performing sacrifices and presenting gifts, the visitor would drink from the sacred spring nearby. The Oracle would then descent into the lower chamber below the temple and after eating Laurel leaves from the tree of Apollo, go into a trance like state. What she uttered next was often unintelligible and a priest would interpret her words for the visitor. The counsel of Apollo delivered in this way was extremely important to the ancient Greeks who used it to decide on matters of war and politics in many cases. The ruins visible today date to the 4th century and we’d built over the original which caught fire.