Delphi – The Oracle of Apollo
Today we sailed into the coastal town of Itea, situated in the Corinthian Gulf with the mountains of Parnassus towering above it.
As we drove past this small town we soon found ourselves gazing at endless fields that were covered with olive trees. The green-grey color of their leaves stood so beautifully against the amazing forms of the ever old tree trunk. A handful of earth is all that the olive tree needs in order to give us such precious things like the oil and the olives.
As we ascended Mount Parnassus and the winding road that we followed, we looked down upon this plain and admired this carpet of olive trees with the cypress trees standing like windbreakers amongst them, changing the tone of green.
Apollo was the son of Zeus and Lito. He is the god of light…phos…photography…the writing of light, the god of harmony, music and prophecy. Even as a child he wanted to create the first oracle of the whole of the world in order to pass his knowledge about the future to all people. He founded his oracle on the dramatic slopes of Mount Parnassus, overlooking the Ionian Sea and Corinthian Gulf. He named it Delphi as he had transformed himself into a dolphin, “delphini” in order to bring the first priests to operate his oracle.
We walked along the sacred way that was once upon a time decorated with many bronze and marble statues, all offerings of those that visited and required the help of Apollo. Some of these once stood in treasuries that had been built from the Greek city-states. The basis of the Oracle was the temple of Apollo, in which stood the Pythia predicting the future as passed on through her from the God himself! He only gave signs as to what was to happen….
Above his temple, a theater that could once seat five thousand people impressed us. If only we could hear the sounds of the plays and music that were once performed within it! Some of us even made it up to the ancient stadium; the steep walk gave us a feel of the games!
We later sailed through the Corinthian Gulf and soon history came to life in front of us! The city of Nafpaktos, with its impressive fortifications that run from the top of the acropolis all the way down to the sea front, was also known as Lepanto. On the 7th of October 1571 one of the most decisive naval battles took place here. The united powers of Europe under admiral Don Juan of Austria led the 206 galleys to defeat the 230 galleys of the Ottoman Empire, putting an end to their expansion to Europe.
Right at the entrance of Corinth Canal stands one of the longest cable-stayed bridges, 1950 feet long. It was inaugurated in 2004, a few weeks before the Olympic Games started. We sailed below it with only 6 meters separating the mast of Panorama from the top of the bridge! The Ionian Sea extended in front of us, and the island of Ithaka to the north was awaiting our visit.
The light was magnificent breaking through the dark rainy clouds, all against the endless blue…
