Delphi Day 2 Lots of Photos

Today we saw the Delphi Archaelogical Site. It is a large area on a hill (mountain?) with treasuries from various Greek City States, a stadium, several temples, a theater, and the navel of the world.

In case you wonder what the exact center of the world, and therefore its navel, looks like, this is it, according to Greek legend.

Treasury of the Athenians. People would go to Delphi to ask the Oracle about the future. After sacrifices, payments of money, and other prove-you're-serious actions, she would say something vague yet enlightened sounding and the inquirer would go home believing they had a word from the gods. Because of its remote location and importance, Greek City States would send treasure to be stored in Delphi. Kind of the Fort Knox of the time.

The Theater.

The Stadium.

The view. Everything is blooming right now and so the breezes smell like flowers. We have taken a ridiculous number of mountain pictures, but we can't seem to resist.

Andrew found a tunnel and went exploring, and when he popped out of this hole a group of French tourists got a good laugh. Of course, the boys then had to try it as well.

Exploring thousand year old sewers - I think it was the hi light of the boys' day. You don't get a chance to do that every day!

The Sphinx. Serene and silent and much more massive than these pictures show.

Then we went down the hill to the museum. It is so great that even though everything has been removed from the site, it is all just down hill in the museum, not hundreds of miles away like some other  sites.

Every frieze we saw had people killing other people. Since the friezes were from the treasuries, maybe it was meant as a warning. Or, they were just very proud of their ability to slaughter their enemies.

The sculptors seemed to really focus on feet. Often the feet seemed more realistic and specific than the faces.

Chariot Driver's feet.

Chariot Driver's face and body. This is the most famous art piece in Delphi.

Check out the detailed beard.

Part of a massive pillar. It is fantastic how they got the stone to appear to gracefully curl this much without cracking from the weight.

We came to Delphi basically because we had heard the name and couldn't think of anything else to see. We were pleasantly surprised by what we found.

And having the sculptures, friezes, and found objects actually viewable in the place they were found is one of the best things about it!