Archaeological Site of Delphi

country. Greece
year of inscription. 1987

criteria. Cultural

Since recorded history, Delphi had been a site of worship. In the 7th century BCE, it gained prominence and importance as a shrine and oracle. It became the seat of Pythia, also known as the Oracle of Delphi, the high priestess of the Temple of Apollo at Delphi. Ancient Greeks also considered Delphi to be the centre of the world, marked by a stone monument called the omphalos, the navel of the world. Over time, most of the primary Greek city-states had stone monuments erected at the site.

In the 4th century CE, under the Roman Empire, the site was shut down due to Christian Roman persecution of paganism, and Delphi was gradually abandoned and forgotten. Some 1000 years later, the area came Ottoman Turkish rule and investigation into its history began; by then, a village had settled there. In 1436, an Italian explorer, Ciriaco de’Pizzicolli of Ancona (today’s Italy) visited and described the site, albeit, not always accurately. From the late 18th century, other Western explorers visited the site, described it, and carried out excavation works.

what. WHS visited (September 2016)

[Samsung Galaxy Note 5, 07 September 2016]