Legends, Myths & Mountains: This Is Delphi

“Welcome to Delphi”, says the taxi driver as we enter the small town, “the centre of the world”.

The reason for that comment will become clear, but as we look out of the car window at the unbelievable scenery which has been unfolding for miles, we feel more like we’re on the edge of the world than in its centre. The modern town of Delphi lies just a few hundred yards from the ancient civilisation of the same name, perched precipitously on the steep slopes of Mount Parnassus and looking across the spectacularly deep valley of the dry River Pleistos to the Gulf of Corinth. One first stroll around its few streets brings several wow moments: this dramatic scenery is truly breathtaking.

Restaurants and hotels cater for visitors and it is clear at first glance that tourism is Delphi’s mainstay, but with such a deep history mixing fact and mythology with its dramatic location, that is not really a surprise.

We’ve been lucky enough to visit a decent number of the world’s great ancient sites, such as Petra, Efesus, the Acropolis and others, but neither of us can recall any other such site which is in a setting quite like this. To simply conceive of how this great city of major importance could be constructed on the dramatically steep slopes of Mount Parnassus by those ancient peoples, towering over the lands below, is awe inspiring.

But then those ancient people were drawn here by powerful forces: this is, after all, the centre of the world, as decreed by Zeus, who according to the myths and legends released two eagles from either end of the universe, stating that where they crossed would be decreed the centre of the world. That place was Mount Parnassus. By subsequently hurling a smooth cylindrical rock, the omphalos – literally, the navel – from the heavens to land on Parnassus, Zeus confirmed the new status of Delphi. (Note: there are as ever some variations to the mythology, but you get the picture).

Its status as the centre of the world confirmed, Delphi gained further fame as the home of the Oracle. For centuries, ancient peoples would make pilgrimages to Delphi to consult the Oracle on such matters as declaration of war, or the establishment of cities: subjects and decisions at the very core of civilisation. Each successive Oracle, also known as the Pythea or sibyl, was appointed by priestesses acting on behalf of Apollo, and, to accede to Oracle status, she was required to be a local peasant woman with a blameless life who would from then on convey the wishes and prophecies of Apollo.

Her prophecies and advices were delivered in a state of trance through a series of rants and rages which were interpreted by the priestesses, becoming the conduit through which the Gods, specifically Apollo, would reach the people, and respond to those questions of great import. Modern day scientists believe these trances were induced by a mixture of inhaling the gases emitted from a chasm in the Earth within the city, together with consuming quantities of the hallucinogenic oleander flower which still grows in abundance at the site today.

In any event, the role of the Oracle of Delphi was to survive for centuries. Apollo’s will, through the Oracle, continued to be respected, observed and revered, even being recognised by the Romans when they later occupied these parts.

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The preserved ruins of ancient Delphi make for an outstanding visit. Climbing up from the Athena Pronaia Temple through the ancient city, the viewpoints continually changing as we climb the steep mountain, we can only imagine times when the city bustled and thrived and revelled in its fame. Standing here looking at the breathtaking landscape which would have greeted the city dwellers and those pilgrims is just wonderful.

At the highest point of the ruins is the remarkably well preserved stadium which hosted the Pythean Games, second only in importance to the Olympic Games in ancient Greece. Adjacent to the old city is the well stocked Delphi Museum, packed with statuary and artefacts from Delphi’s remarkable history.

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We unwind from absorbing all this by climbing part of Mount Parnassus, though with only a couple of hours to spare we don’t make an attempt on the summit. A couple of days later however, on our last day here, we tackle a much bigger section of Parnassus, climbing from Delphi at around 1800ft to the ridge at nearly 4000ft above sea level. The hike takes us just over 6 hours to complete, and is 15 miles of mountain trekking as well as the gain in elevation. It’s pretty testing in the extreme heat and we are extremely tired by the end of it.

Later, over a beer whilst watching the sun set, we are joined by this inquisitive little fellow…..

Who is so inquisitive that he jumped on to the camera while we were taking his photograph……

Way below modern day Delphi is the historic village of Kyrra, the port where  pilgrims disembarked, still linked to Delphi by the same 3,000 year old footpath. Tackling it is just too much of a temptation, though we walk it downhill from our base to the sea rather than take on the 1800-foot climb. Its 14-kilometre route is fabulous, zigzagging down the craggy sides of the mountain before crossing the vast olive groves below..

And boy are those olive groves vast indeed: this is in fact the largest continuous olive grove in all of Greece, with 1.2 million olive trees (yes, you read that right!) and stretching across more than 21 square miles up to Amfissa at its northern end. That’s some annual harvest! Olives have been farmed here for over 3,000 years, and over 70% of the trees are more than 150 years old.

From Kyrra we walk along the coast to the pleasant resort town of Itea, where we take our first swim of this trip to cool down after hiking nearly 4 hours in the intense heat.

Around 10 kilometres from Delphi, but even higher at 3,182 feet above sea level, lies the pretty town of Arachova. This is the town where wealthy Greeks enjoy skiing trips; a hugely pretty town with a quirky rock-mounted bell tower. Its setting is again stunning and the town is clearly well heeled, but it feels very strange walking in the baking sun past shops selling ski clothing and snow boards.

Delphi, the modern version, is a quiet place with a bit of a “passing through” feel: most visitors seem to stay here for just a couple of nights, and day trippers to ancient Delphi only come into the new town to grab a quick lunch or don’t come in at all. Its soundtrack, breaking the otherwise becalmed feel, is the incessant rasp of cicadas which reaches a deafening climax in the afternoon.

In a small town like this, there’s nearly always one guy who knows everyone and everything and is the town’s go-to person for information. As a music buff I love the fact that Delphi’s version is called Vangelis. We’ve chatted with Vangelis lots, and picked up loads of useful information: we guess he’s been our own modern day version of the Oracle of Delphi…..