Searching for the Oracle of Delphi

corinne — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 08:00:08 +0000

: Temple of Apollo

The Temple of Apollo on Mt. Parnassus was revered in ancient times as the place to come, make a significant sacrifice, confer with the oracle, and reap your rewards. Many influential citizens of the time did just that, and the Delphi is mentioned over and over in history. We came not knowing what to expect, but looking for a few things: one- the oracle or some tales of the oracles and what they did and predicted and two-King Midas’ throne. Supposedly he had made his way to Delphi and gave a very handsome and expensive throne to Apollo. The museum only briefly mentions Midas, and we were highly dissappointed about that.

The archaelogical site, however, was far from dissappointing. We spent a couple of hours climbing among the temple, theater, stadium, and whatever else. It was a pretty spread out place. In my mind, it should have been very small, with an eerie countenance, but instead you could tell it was a thriving and wealthy metropolis. Like all the other Greek museums we’d been to, this one was fantastic. Placards in English, explained the findings, history, and myths of the city. Fascinating. For a UNESCO World Heritage site, there were not as many people there as I would have expected. A few coach tours came through, but the site was more than large enough to accommodate everyone without it being at all annoying.

Delphi the town was also one of our favorite stops. It is small, with only a few pensions and one big hotel. Most tourists only come for the day on a bus tour and few actually spend the night. After the tour buses went home, we had a quiet dinner with a gorgeous vista. With grapevines lining the window, we saw the sunset on the olive groves and the ocean in the background. I must mention here, that Greek wine is pretty good, and the waiter at our restaurant very willing to ply us with it until almost midnight.

The Phrygians – Part II

jim — Sat, 30 May 2009 11:30:47 +0000

Gordion may have been the capital city of the Phrygians, but this valley held their most sacred temple. This is labeled on the map as King Midas’ tomb as well, because some of the inscriptions mention King Midas, but he is not believed to have been laid to rest here.

Phrygian road

Another beautiful day, we drove down to Eskisehir just to get out of the house. When we arrived, we found a nicely laid out city, but there was absolutely nothing to do. Taking a look at our guidebook, we discovered that a whole valley of Phrygian ruins lies just east of there.

The site is much more extensive and interesting than Gordion. There is no museum, but there is a trail to follow that leads you around the temple grounds. We enjoyed seeing the temple stone faces, many stairs and tunnels, some tombs, and even an ancient Phrygian road carved out of the tufa and complete with wheel ruts. The sites were some of the best preserved that we’ve seen. It took about an hour to walk the path around all the sites. The ticket taker also provided us with an informative brochure written in both Turkish and English.

The temple and its surrounds was only one of about six sites, but it was the only one our car could get to. The others, four castles and some more tombs, were all off the paved road. It has been raining a lot here, and there was too much mud to risk it. If you plan on going, try to go in a very dry season or with a four wheel drive vehicle.

Reflections Enroute » King Midas

Searching for the Oracle of Delphi

The Phrygians – Part II