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.
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.
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.
Thank you for sharing!
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