The Sanctuary of Delphi is probably the most extraordinary of all Ancient Greek sites. It has one of the most magnificent landscapes in Greece and perhaps in the world. Delphi amazes all who visit it. This place is the center of the world. The Ancient Greeks called it the Omphalos, which means: the Navel of the Earth. According to the legend, Zeus, the father of the gods wanted to find the center of the universe, so he sent two eagles flying from the opposite ends of the universe, and the place where they met was Delphi, and the exact point were they met, was marked with this stone, omphalos, the navel. The god Apollo sought to establish his sanctuary, and when he discovered Delphi, the site was guarded by Python, a serpent or dragon-like creature. Apollo killed Python and assumed control of the sanctuary. Delphi flourished between the 6th and the 4th centuries BC, and it was not part of any Greek city-state, but it was a sacred place where anybody could come from all over the Greek world, extending upon the Mediterranean from southern Italy to Asia Minor. And all the pilgrims who came here, had the purpose of seeking guidance from the Oracle of Delphi. The Oracle, a priestess of Apollo known as the Pythia, was believed to possess the ability to communicate with the god and provide prophetic advice. Delphi is one of the most improbably located cities in urban history, because the whole site is built in the middle of the slope of a steep mountain known as Mount Parnassus, and the views back down and across the valley are stupendous. The most extraordinary thing about Greek architecture is the guiding principle they use in organizing the site. The Greeks had the notion that the site is already sacred, the site is already loaded with spiritual meaning, and it is the task of the architect to make these presences visible through the architecture. So in the case of Delphi, which was seen as the center of the universe, the mountains well up, the cliffs and the cracks on the rock surround the site, and the buildings position themselves in a powerful way to make their organization understandable. The theater for example, is gently placed on the mountainside, positioned towards the sacred mountain range beyond and framing it with the architecture. Yet the theater was completely hidden by the Temple of Apollo if you enter the sanctuary from the main entrances. And from other entrances, the views towards the theater were blocked by retaining walls and similar structures. This was to prevent a visual contrast between the two largest building masses on the site. The temple of Apollo was the most important building in Delphi, so the building had to dominate all the views, and directly contrast with the landscape. In the Sanctuary of Apollo at Delphi, just like in the Acropolis of Athens there was a sacred way through which a procession had to thread. Though, the sacred way at Delphi, was always flanked by these minor temples called θησαυρός, or treasuries. Greek sanctuaries like Delphi, or like the Sanctuary of Zeus at Olympia, commanded the support of all Greek cities. So individual cities might offer to the god these treasuries. A treasury was a building resembling a small non-peripteral temple, where offerings from their city could be stored to propitiate Apollo. And they were not mere storage places, but offerings in their own right. They were lavishly decorated with sculpture, and they commemorated an important event, such as a victory in war like the Athenian treasury, or the discovery of a rich vein of silver, like the treasury of Siphnos. But each one of these treasuries was arranged so that if you’re looking down from the theater, or from the temple terrace, all buildings arrange themselves in such a way as to help us understand the landscape. So each sacred precinct from Ancient Greece, has a specific point which clarifies the whole: in the Acropolis of Athens was the main entrance from the Propylaea, here in Delphi that point is in the theater. The reason there was a theater in the sanctuary is that theater in Ancient Greece was almost part of their religion, it was connected to their religious practice, so it was important that the theater found a place in the landscape that needed to be clarified, so you can see that the theater of Delphi locks into the natural geometry of the site and makes possible a stronger understanding of how important this point is. Good design is not perfectly systematic, oddities can be enriching and humanizing aspects in a project, and the way you engage Greek buildings is as objects in the round, they’re not too driven by rules like Roman urbanism would be. Greek urbanism is all about the dissolution of the individual into nature, becoming one with nature. Architecture is a narrative vehicle, our experience of an architectural space is strongly influenced by how we arrive in it. So for anyone coming to the Temple of Apollo to consult the oracle, there was a specific route they had to follow: You arrived from the eastern side, and you passed through a small temple complex dedicated to Athena Pronaia. Pronaia means “the one before”, as you had to walk by this precinct before you arrived at the Sanctuary of Apollo. This complex was known as Marmaria, because of the use of marble as the main construction material. Within this precinct there were two temples dedicated to the goddess Athena, there were more treasuries, and some altars for sacrifices, and in the middle, there was the Tholos of Delphi. A tholos was a building with a circular plan. It was surrounded by twenty Doric columns, and its interior was decorated with Corinthian columns. Its use is unknown, but part of the building stands today as one of the most iconic structures from Delphi, as its presence is complemented by the breathtaking panoramic backdrop of the surrounding landscape. Just imagine how spectacular it would have looked in antiquity. Next to the Marmaria temple complex there was the gymnasium, a training ground for athletes. This is the oldest gymnasium from Ancient Greece that still exists. Here athletes prepared for the Pythian games, a prominent athletic and cultural competition held at Delphi. So just like in Olympia they had the Olympic Games, in Delphi they had the Pythian games. And they were celebrated at the stadium, which is located to the northwest of the sanctuary of Apollo. The stadium was on the highest part of the site, and it is one of the best preserved ancient stadiums in Greece, so it’s easy to imagine how extraordinary it would be to witness the competition under this overwhelming cliffside. As you continued your way from the Gymnasium towards the Sanctuary, you would encounter the Castalian Spring. All visitors stopped here to wash themselves, and to drink water. It’s also here that the priests cleaned themselves before interpreting oracles. After the spring, you would continue your way until you arrived at the entrance of the Temenos. The Temenos was the name of the walled precinct of Delphi, the land consecrated to Apollo, the sanctuary proper. And it was typically entered through the south eastern gate, where you would follow the sacred way flanked by altars, statues, stoas, and treasuries, until you finally got to the Great Temple. A good building reveals different things about itself when viewed from different distances. So, seeing the Great Temple from the distance as you got closer through the sacred way, you would see the temple as a single object integrated into the landscape, but as you get closer to it, and the view of the temple is presented from different angles, the temple is momentarily screened from view by other structures, and then revealed again from a different angle or with a new interesting detail. Visitors are diverted unexpectedly to create intrigue or even momentary lostness, and then they’d be rewarded with other interesting views of the temple. As you get to the ramp of access to the temple terrace, you would get a glimpse of the front facade of the temple with a 60 degree angle, then it’d be hidden by the altar of Apollo, and then you’d see it again on the other side on another 60 degree view. Like the Parthenon and all Greek temples, the temple of Apollo is meant to be viewed as a plastic three-dimensional object, and therefore has columns on all sides. As you can see it’s not meant to be viewed from the front or from the side, but always from an angle. And the most important aspect that you’d see from this distance, apart from the lavish sculpture on the pediment of the temple, would be the Delphic Maxims, a set of mysterious phrases inscribed on the temple front reminding us the place that we occupy in the universe. Γνῶθι σαυτόν (Know yourself), Μηδὲν ἄγαν (Nothing too much), Ἑγγύα πάρα δ'ἄτη (in a pledge ruin is present). “Know yourself” was the most famous one, and according to Plato, it means “know your limits, and be fully aware of the place you occupy in the universe and in the order of things”. Ancient authors tell us that you would enter the temple, and you would find a deep rocky chasm in the center of the temple from whence emanated gases and vapors. Here is where the Pythia, the priestess, would sit on a tripod and enter on an ecstatic trance state, and interpreted the oracle as she inhaled the vapors that expelled from the chasm. Anyone who made the appropriate donation could come and consult the oracle and ask anything, consultations were generally on matters of great importance, such as political decisions, military campaigns, and personal dilemmas. Never was a city founded without first consulting an oracle. The temple measured 60m x 23m, and it was of Doric style, with triglyphs and metopes, and it was a hexastyle temple, that is, with six columns on its front and back. It had a ramp of access in the main facade, and it stood on a stylobate of three steps. It’s just impossible to put into words how perfectly the architecture blends with the landscape. Just the sensation of standing on this site is very superhuman, supernatural, sublime, you feel on top of the world as the landscape is just unbelievable, the Greeks really knew how to choose a site for their cities. No wonder why they thought this place was the center of the world. You feel so in connection with nature, and with the cliffs and mountains is just so unreal. With the expansion of the Roman Empire, the era of the Pax Romana reached Greece. Greece was in peace. They were no longer under the threat of invasion from Persians or from other civilizations, and therefore all the pilgrims seeking guidance from the oracle of Delphi came to ask trivial and mundane questions. Delphi, on time, started to lose importance. The once-thriving site faced neglect and depopulation, leading to a lack of maintenance. Situated on a highly seismic area, buildings started to collapse, with no efforts made for reconstruction. The isolated, steeply mountainous area can appear mysterious to this day. Delphi is a place where nature fractures, with cracks in the Earth’s surface, a region with frequent thunderstorms and occasional earthquakes. So, it is not surprising that since ancient times, it was considered a magical area, a special location. The ancient sanctuary of Delphi was, and quite possibly remains to this day, the most spiritual place on Earth. Delphi is one of the most important sites of ancient Greece, but if you want to see more, I have a full playlist of Greek architecture on my channel that you can go check out. Please like this video and subscribe to my channel to get notified every time I upload new content. Thanks for watching, and I'll see you very soon in the next episode. Goodbye!