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Delphi, the "navel" of the Earth for the Ancient Greeks, is a world-wide known place of Ancient Greek civilization and the most visited site in Greece after the Acropolis of Athens. |
| Partial view of the Sanctuary of Apollo |
| Something that most people ignore is that the town of Delphi continued
its life until the first quarter of the 7th century AD, despite the decline
of the pagan worship and the ban of the oracle consultation.
One can observe a certain prosperity of the town, reflected mainly in its urban expansion and in the imports of valuable objects effectuated during this period. |
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| Imported object (panther)
made of mother of pearl |
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The urban fabric was firstly developed around the walls
of the Sanctuary of Apollo and at a time which is difficult to precise
exactly, the Sacred Road was transformed to a merchant road.
Traders were established inside the ancient treasuries and private houses took probably the place of ancient ex-votos. The temple of Apollo, where Pythia used to pronounce the oracles, was abandoned but not deliberately destroyed. |
| The South-Eastern Villa, constructed close to the south part of the walls of the Sanctuary |
| Recent research has been focused on two of the most important
buildings of the Late Roman period of Delphi: the Roman Agora and the so-called
"South-Eastern Villa".
The excavations conducted by Vincent Deroche and Platon Petridis under the auspicies of the French School of Archaeology of Athens started at 1990 and are close to their complition. |
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| South-Eastern Villa,1995 excavation |
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The Roman Agora is a complex of stores or workshops developed around a quadrangular place flanked by a portico. Its latest phase dates from the 4th century AD. |
| Roman Agora, view from the East |
| The South-Eastern Villa constitutes probably the most expansive private mansion of the 5th and 6th centuries. It is developed in many levels and contains three "triclinia" (reception rooms), courtyards, single rooms and a private bath complex. |  |
| Destruction level in a room of the South-Eastern Villa |
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A great amount of pottery has been found both in the Roman Agora and the South-Eastern Villa. The origins of the imported pottery are various and it mostly came from North Africa and Attica. |
| North-African lamp, 5th c. AD |
| Next to these imports, important local production was
flourishing.
Thanks to various discoveries of ceramological interest (kilns, moulds, kiln supports, wastes of pottery), the phase of that local production between the last quarter of the 6th century to the beginning of the 7th century can be surely traced. |
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| Example of local pottery, 6th c. AD |
| The study of the pottery helps firstly to understand
the commercial relationships between Delphi, Greek towns and the rest of
the Roman world and secondly the social context in which these ceramics
were used and produced.
It also allows a correlation of the ceramic data with the historical events which marked the last period of the town. These are mostly the barbaric invasions which took place during the last quarter of the 6th and the beginning of the 7th century AD. These events must have been responsible for the definite abandon of the town of Delphi near the years AD 710/720. |
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| Imported amphora,
probably from
N.Anchialos (4th c. AD) |
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One should wait until the 18th century to see the establishment of a village at the place of the ruins of the ancient sanctuary and town. This village, called Kastri, will be transplanted to a nearby place at the end of the 19th century, in order to allow the beginning of the "Great Excavation" conducted by the French School of Archaeology of Athens. This excavation (1892-1903) offered the international public one of the most important sites of Greek civilization, the birth-place of the United Nations ideal. |
| The beginnings of the "Great Excavation". |
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This page has been
created by
Platon Petridis (platon) & Elias Hatzis (lh) Last update: May 02 1996 |