The sacred island of
Delos was, in the myths, the birthplace of Apollo and
Artemis. Today the island is uninhabited: it is a vast
archaeological site whose superb monuments draw thousands
of visitors in pilgrimage to what was, for a thousand
years or so after the ninth century BC, the political
and religious centre of the Aegean.
The archaeological site
covers almost the entire island, starting on the west
side, where the sacred harbour was.
From the harbour, a majestic
sacred way led to the Sanctuary of Apollo, where there
were temples, buildings. There are ruins of four temples
to Apollo, one of them known as the Temple of the Athenians.
To the eas is the Sanctuary
of the Bulls, an oblong building, and to the north are
the Treasuries and the long, narrow Stoa of Antigonus.
In the north-west corner is the much smaller Sanctuary
of Artemis, with an Ionic temple to the goddess, and
the Tomb of the Two Hyperborean Maidens. Still further
norht is the region of the sacred lake, with the Terace
of the Lions, the Letoon, the Agora of the Italians
and the Institution of the Poseidoniast of Berytos.
A little further along
are some fine examples of houses and a palaestra. To
the norht-east of the lake are the Stadium and the Gymnasium.
Some of the houses yielded superb mosaic floors with
representations of Dionysus, a dolphin and a trident.
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