Footsteps of St. Paul- Delphi

 

The Treasury at Delphi

was constructed by the 

Athenians to house dedications and votive offerings

 made by their city and citizens at the sanctuary

of Apollo. The entire treasury including 

its sculptural decoration

 is built of Parian marble.  

Opinions defer on construction dates from  

510 to 480 BCE.

One site declares it was built with the spoils 

from the Battle of Marathon fought in 490 BCE

 against the Persians.

The legendary name is Python, 

and it was an ancient sacred precinct

 and the seat of Pythia. 

This was the major oracle who was consulted about 

major decisions in the classical Greek world.

The ancient Greeks considered the 

center of the world to be in Delphi.

This was because of the stone monument

 known as the omphalos- navel, 

which is shown above.

The original stone is held in the museum of Delphi,

here on the site is a simplified copy.

The site is now an extensive archeological site since 1938

 as part of the Parnassos National Park.

Temple of Apollo - Delphi

Dedicated to the god of music, harmony, 

light and healing.

The edifice with the partially restored colonnade 

dates to the 20th century BC.

There were 5 temples built throughout history.

It is a beautiful view from this site.

The Temple of Apollo was built on an intersecting fault line.

The Pythia would sit on the "navel seat" 

that emitted a mixture of hallucinogenic gases. 

It was probably a mixture of ethane, methane and ethylene

 which was one of the world's first anesthetics.

The famous oracle, the Pythia, 

known as the Oracle of Delphi operated

 inside the temple.

This location was chosen due to the sacred chasm

 beneath the site editing vapors,

 which were inhaled by the Pythia.

This influential voice belonged to a woman 

and no important leader would make a 

major decision without consulting this voice. 

Getting to Delphi was a complicated journey 

and thousands of visitors sought guidance 

from this holy woman and this made the 

town of Delphi rich.

Everyone knew about Delphi. 

 As Saint Paul traveled throughout Greece,

 it would have been a part of the culture 

that he was "up against". He told the people 

about the real power of the voice of the world- Jesus.

He ran into this in Phillipi with the girl 

with the spirit of divination- the fortune-telling girl.

and the challenges of reversing the premise of 

who holds the future of the world.