We felt we couldn’t go to Greece and not visit Delphi again as it’s such a magical place. It’s hugely impressive, because of the beautiful location, the height of it, and the sheer number of monuments, even though many are just the pedestals of statues, and you have to imagine what they would’ve looked like with their enormous statues on top.
In ancient times Delphi was considered the ‘navel of the earth’ and was home to the Oracle of Delphi and the Temple of Apollo.The location is extraordinary and you can understand what drew the ancient Greeks to this site.
Archaeological investigation in Delphi started in the second half of the 19th century, but it was not until 1892 that a systematic excavation began under the direction of Théophile Homolle and the French Archaeological School of Athens. The site was buried beneath layers and layers of stone and there was a village on top. The village had to be totally uprooted and relocated so that the archaeologists could uncover the ruins.
Archaeological Museum
The museum is definitely worth visiting. It has some amazing statues. We especially liked the one of the dancing women and the one of the charioteer which in its original form would have had also the chariot and horses but only the charioteer had survived.
Delphi Camping
We stayed again at Delphi Camping – a wonderful site with stunning views over the Gulf of Corinth. The campsite is owned by the Kanatas family and they also produce olive oil. This olive oil called ‘Mer des Oliviers de Delphes’ is produced from olives of the olive groves of Amfissa – Delphi. These groves have existed for over 3,000 years being the oldest in Greece . Here the ancient Greeks cultivated olives and produced oil before any other part of Greece did and the Kanatas family have cultivated olives and produced olive oil for hundreds of years. The olive oil is called by a French name in order to honour the French team who discovered the Delphi site and worked on the excavations.