Delphi and Hosios Loukas

Our group together with our local guide, Sophia Gridaki, at the Temple of Apollo in Delphi.

Today we had a bus tour that took us first Delphi and then to the Byzantine monastery of Hosios Loukas. It took several hours to get to these sites in central Greece, but the countryside was gorgeous, and Sophia had many interesting things to tell us along the way about the history and culture of the areas through which we passed.

The Greek countryside, here seen at Diostomo, where we visited the monastery of Hosios Loukas.

[Disclaimer: This post will likely have less background and explanation and perhaps more of my Instagram collages. Between our spotty hotel internet, which slows photo uploads, and the need to pack before a very early departure, I simply do not have the time that I usually invest in these entries. Still, I want you to see these great sites!]



Delphi

As Sophia explained it to us, "The Ancient Greeks could read a site like a book." They certainly chose a stunning locale, where the treasuries, temple, theater, and stadium of Apollo all ascended up the side of a picturesque hill.

An early Bronze Age site dedicated to the ubiquitous Mother Goddess, Delphi later become sacred to the god Apollo, a shift alluded to in the second part of the Homeric Hymn to Apollo. A god of light, music, poetry, intellect, and culture, Apollo also revealed the will of his father Zeus to mortals. Accordingly this particular sanctuary became the seat of one of the foremost oracles of the ancient world, where pilgrims and delegations would visit the Pythia, the female prophetess of Apollo whose ecstatic utterances were rendered into poetic, often ambiguous, oracles by the shrines priests.

The Tholos and site of Athena Pronaios

 Before visiting the main precinct of Apollo, we stopped at the lower sanctuary of Athena Pronaia (Athena-before-the-sanctuary). Both her archaic and classical temples lie in ruins, but the tholos, or round structure, that lay between them was certainly stunning.

The restored Athenian Treasury at the lower level of the Delphic sanctuary at the top left; the theater and main temple viewed from above in the center; and some of our students at the upper hippodrome, or stadium.

After several days of rain, the skies around Delphi were truly stunning today.

Today the site also boasts an impressive and well-curated archeological museum that contains many artifacts found here from almost every period. Perhaps the most famous, of course, is the bronze Charioteer of Delphi. 

After we left the site, we drove into the modern town of Delfi, where we had another delightful lunch.

Hosios Loukas

Later in the afternoon, we drove to Hosios Louikas, a Byzantine monastery from the tenth century near Diotismo on the slopes of Mount Helikon (where, according to legend, the poet Hesiod had his "first vision" of the Muses). The mosaics were stunning, and our visit gave Sophia (and to a lesser extent me) a chance to talk to the students about Greek Orthodoxy and the history of Greece in the Middle Ages and early modern period.

Upon our return to Athens, we bid farewell to our friend Sophia and our trusty driver, Yannis.

[When I have better, faster internet and more time, I hope to return to this entry and upload more higher resolution, single images. Thank you for your patience.]

A Last Greek Dinner

I had hoped to take my daughter, Rachel, to one of my favorite places to eat in Athens, Orizontes on Mount Lykavittos. But we did not have time, so we still managed to get some mixed grill, and I some χταπόδι (octopus) at a restaurant not too far from our hotel.

One of us is more excited about eating grilled χταπόδι (octopus) than the other!

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