Delphi was an important site where the god Apollo was worshipped. That picture below is of the temple of Apollo, which is an exciting place because it is where, I believe, the Pythia (that's the priestess who gave oracles at Delphi) would have sat on her tripod, answering people's questions in hexameter verse. Now, the subject of the Pythia and her temple is a very interesting one- some people believe that the priestess did not write verses so much as make a bunch of funny noises that other people interpreted. Some accounts of the temple record a smell there. The question is, does this mean that the air was full of some sort of fumes? Delphi is located on a fault line, and higher than usual amounts of some chemicals, like ethylene, have been found in nearby springs. Was the Pythia hallucinating? Obviously we can't say, but it's interesting to think about.
Me with an inscriptions. This is a late inscription- you can tell because of the style of some of the letters (like the omegas- note how they are written like curly ws, rather than the Ω that you're probably used to seeing.) No, I'm not going to translate it.
The theatre at Delphi! It's a late addition to the site- 4th century BC, I think- but is quite the theater- from this spot on the mountain, you can get a lovely view of the rest of the site. It must have been really neat back in the day, when all of the treasuries were still intact.
The treasury of the Athenians! Reconstructed, clearly- when they excavated it, the French archaeologists found enough of this treasury that they could put it back together. The friezes from the building are inside the archaeological museum at Delphi, and depict the labors of Theseus, an important Athenian hero. At the treasury, the Athenians would have displayed war trophies- for example, the arms captured from the Persians during the Persian Wars. The road up to the temple of Apollo was lined with treasuries like this from different cities- near the Tholos, there is a treasury from the city which is modern day Marseilles.
Looking back over the nearby mountains!
Me with an inscriptions. This is a late inscription- you can tell because of the style of some of the letters (like the omegas- note how they are written like curly ws, rather than the Ω that you're probably used to seeing.) No, I'm not going to translate it.
The theatre at Delphi! It's a late addition to the site- 4th century BC, I think- but is quite the theater- from this spot on the mountain, you can get a lovely view of the rest of the site. It must have been really neat back in the day, when all of the treasuries were still intact.
The treasury of the Athenians! Reconstructed, clearly- when they excavated it, the French archaeologists found enough of this treasury that they could put it back together. The friezes from the building are inside the archaeological museum at Delphi, and depict the labors of Theseus, an important Athenian hero. At the treasury, the Athenians would have displayed war trophies- for example, the arms captured from the Persians during the Persian Wars. The road up to the temple of Apollo was lined with treasuries like this from different cities- near the Tholos, there is a treasury from the city which is modern day Marseilles. 
Looking back over the nearby mountains!
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