ΓΝΩΘΙ ΣΕΑΥΤΟΝ

So, after we had finished with Hosios Loukas we made our way to Delphi, which, in case you weren't aware, is the center of the universe. It is also the site of the Delphic Oracle, which was, of course, the most important oracle of the ancient Greek world, and is a pretty nifty place in general.

A warning before you start reading these posts- classics nerdiness will be abounding. Trust me. I think it is physically impossible to go to Delphi and not be a bit nerdy. (Or is it? Perhaps this problem is unique to me.) The site of Delphi is located on the slopes of Mount Parnassus, and is in general a very pretty place. Once upon a time, the area of the site was occupied by a village, Kastri. This is a common problem in Greece- many valuable archaeological sites have been built over in later times, and it is difficult to excavate if the current inhabitants refuse to move away. (There are many areas of Athens that haven't been excavated either.) Unfortunately for the inhabitants of Kastri, but fortunately for all of the archaeologists involved (and, I should add, anyone who has visited the site) there was an earthquake in the late 1800s that encouraged the villagers to move away and made the excavations possible.
This may not be Delphi...
But this is! See those columns over to the left side of the picture? That's the temple of Apollo! And that white building in the middle of the picture? That's the treasury of the Athenians! I may have been dancing in a giddy fashion at this point of the trip. Whereby "may have" I mean "definitely was." Some of the less classics-enthused people on my bus may have been alarmed. My professors may have been looking on in amusement. My friends were too busy dancing to much care.
This is Delphi too! That's the tholos, which is a round building at the site of the Temple of Athena Pronaia. Our first day on the site (we spent a whole weekend there) we only visited the lower site, which means that we spent a lot of time looking at the tholos. It is a very recognizable building, in part because it is round. (There aren't a whole lot of round buildings from the ancient world, and generally the ones that exist are called the tholos. I have visited three while here- the tholos in the agora (subject of my exciting presentation, "The tholos and the monument of the eponymous heroes") the tholos at Epidauros and this one here.)