The Stoa of the Athenians is an ancient portico in the Delphic Sanctuary, Greece, located south of the Temple of Apollo. The southern side of the polygonal wall of the platform forms the north wall of the stoa. It was constructed c. 478 BC-470 BC during the early Classical period. The one-aisled stoa with Ionic colonnade opens toward the southeast. It was dedicated by the Athenians after the Persian Wars.
The Stoa of the Athenians is built against the polygonal wall supporting the terrace of the temple of Apollo. The monument has been identified through the inscription of the stylobate: ΑΤΗΕΝΑΙΟΙ ΑΝΕΘΕΣΑΝ ΤΗΝ ΣΤΟΑΝ ΚΑΙ ΤΑ ΟΠΛ[Α Κ]ΑΙ ΤΑΚΡΟΤΕΡΙΑ ΕΛΟΝΤΕΣ ΤΩΝ ΠΟΛΕΜΙΩΝ [The Athenians dedicated the portico and the armaments and the figure heads of the ships that they seized from their enemies]. The "armaments" mentioned in the inscription refer probably to ropes taken from Persian ships, quite possibility the ropes they used to build their extensive pontoon bridge across the Hellespont. [1] On a three-stepped stylobate measuring 26.5 meters long and 3.10 meters wide stand seven monolithic fluted columns of the Ionic order. They are made of Pentelic marble and their bases are made of Paros marble. They are 3.31 meters high. The distance between them is quite large, thus creating openings allowing ample light to enter the building, which was probably covered with a wooden roof. The stylobate and the colonnade have been restored and are extant today in situ. On the polygonal wall at the back of the stoa, particularly on the western part, have been carved about six hundred manumission inscriptions, in the form of fictitious sale of slaves to the god. Most probably, the portico was constructed after the naval victories against the Persians at Mykale and Sestos in 478 B.C. [2] It was used for storing the war spoils, mainly from naval victories against the Persians. War spoils from naval battles at Mykale, Sestos, Salamis and the Hellespont were included. [3]
The remains of the Stoa of the Athenians were discovered by Bernard Haussoullier in 1880. The stoa was constructed in Delphi after the naval victory over the Persians at Sestus near the Hellespont in 478 BC. [4] It was dedicated to Apollo, and the Athenians that perished in the Persian War. [5] On display in the stoa were armaments taken from the vast pontoon bridge the Persians had built across the Hellespont at the beginning of the Persian War (480). The Persian King Xerxes had ordered the construction of the bridges to expedite the movement of his enormous forces across the straight. It was built by lashing together ships with ropes and setting planks on them. [6] In 479 the Athenians attacked the last remnants of Persians on the Greek side of the Hellespont at Sestos. After they defeated them at the end of a long siege in 478, the Athenians and islanders dismantled the boat bridges, bringing home some of the cables the Persians had used to lash the boats together. [7] In the following years, more exhibits were put on display in the Athenian stoa at Delphi, as the Athenians gained more naval victories. The war memorials on display were dedicated to Apollo, but they also served as monuments of Athens victory. Of the entire stoa, only the rear polygonal wall, stylobate, and northeast foundations, with a few columns remain today. [8] [9]
A stoa is a portico consisting of a back wall and a colonnade in front supporting a roof. The Stoa of the Athenians at Delphi used a pre-existing wall, the Polygonal Wall, which dates to about 560 B.C., as its back wall, which was serving as the retaining wall for the terrace supporting the Temple of Apollo just to the north. The Stoa of the Athenians was built with a wooden, shedded roof with hipped ends, a wooden entablature, and seven marble columns set apart from each other at a distance of 3.58-meters. At their base, the columns were .39-meter in diameter. Unlike most stoas, the columns of the Stoa of the Athenians were marble and executed in the Ionic, not Doric style. Three nearly complete columns have been set up on the modern archaeological site, along with the fragment of a fourth. Although the rafters were never recovered, evidence suggests that they spanned across the roof at 3.5-meter intervals. [10]
Delphi, in legend previously called Pytho (Πυθώ), in ancient times was a sacred precinct that served as the seat of Pythia, the major oracle who was consulted about important decisions throughout the ancient classical world. The oracle was international in character and also fostered sentiments of Greek nationality, even though the nation of Greece was centuries away from realization. The ancient Greeks considered the centre of the world to be in Delphi, marked by the stone monument known as the omphalos (navel). The sacred precinct was in the region of Phocis, but its management had been taken away from the Phocians, who were trying to extort money from its visitors, and had been placed in the hands of an amphictyony, or committee of persons chosen mainly from Central Greece. According to the Suda, Delphi took its name from the Delphyne, the she-serpent (drakaina) who lived there and was killed by the god Apollo.
The Castalian Spring, in the ravine between the Phaedriades at Delphi, is where all visitors to Delphi — the contestants in the Pythian Games, and especially pilgrims who came to consult the Delphic Oracle — stopped to wash themselves and quench their thirst; it is also here that the Pythia and the priests cleansed themselves before the oracle-giving process. Finally Roman poets regarded it as a source of poetic inspiration. According to some mythological versions it was here that Apollo killed the monster, Python, who was guarding the spring, and that is why it was considered to be sacred.
The agora was a central public space in ancient Greek city-states. It is the best representation of a city-state's response to accommodate the social and political order of the polis. The literal meaning of the word "agora" is "gathering place" or "assembly". The agora was the center of the athletic, artistic, business, social, spiritual and political life in the city. The Ancient Agora of Athens is the best-known example.
The Athenian Treasury at Delphi was constructed by the Athenians to house dedications and votive offerings made by their city and citizens to the sanctuary of Apollo. The entire treasury including its sculptural decoration is built of Parian marble. The date of construction is disputed, and scholarly opinions range from 510 to 480 BCE. It is located directly below the Temple of Apollo along the Sacred Way for all visitors to view the Athenian treasury on the way up to the sanctuary.
The Dancers of Delphi, also known as the Acanthus Column, are three figures in high relief on top of an acanthus column found near the sanctuary of Pythian Apollo at Delphi. They are on display in the Delphi Archaeological Museum and were the inspiration for the first of Claude Debussy's Préludes.
Pierre Amandry was a French hellenist, especially interested with ancient Greece and its relationships with the Orient. He was born at Troyes on December 31, 1912, and died in Paris on February 21, 2006. A large part of his work was on the site of Delphi, excavated by the French School at Athens, of which he was secretary general from 1941 to 1948 and director from 1969 to 1981.
The Lesche of the Knidians was a Lesche, i.e. a club or meeting place, at the sanctuary of Apollo in Delphi, it is one of those structures there that was destroyed in their most part. Today, the only surviving parts are some architectural relics. It hosted two famous paintings by the famous painter Polygnotus the Thasian, namely the Capture of Troy and the Nekyia. It was built in the second quarter of the 5th century B.C. Apparently a rectangular building bearing a clerestory along its western side and possibly had a tripartite interior arrangement. In the 4th century along its southern side was added a wall for placing ex votos.
The Gymnasium at Delphi is a building complex of the 4th century B.C. at Delphi, Greece which comprised the xystus and the palaestra, along with its auxiliary buildings such as the changing rooms and baths. It was situated between the Sanctuary of Athena Pronaia and the fountain Castalia. Some remains of archaic buildings, discovered under the xystus, were possibly related to a sanctuary dedicated to Demeter and indicate the sanctity of the area from earlier times.
The Altar of the Chians was the altar of the Temple of Apollo at Delphi, dedicated by the people of Chios.
The tenth book of the work Description of Greece by the traveler Pausanias is dedicated to Phocis; its larger part constitutes a description of the sanctuaries and buildings of Delphi. His work constituted a precious aid to travelers and archaeologists who attempted to identify the monuments revealed by the excavations, although in some cases their identifications were not enough.
The Stadium of Delphi lies on the highest spot of the Archaeological Site of Delphi. It overlooks the sanctuary of Apollo and has a view to the Delphic Landscape. It was built either within the second half of the 4th century B.C. or even after the Galatian attacks. Its measured 178 meters in length and knew several refurbishment phases. The Stadium of Delphi is the best preserved ancient stadium in Greece.
The Portico of the Aetolians, known also as the Western Portico, is one of the largest buildings of Delphi, situated outside of the sacred precinct of the sanctuary of Apollo.
The Treasury of Cyrene was a building in the sanctuary of Apollo in Delphi. The treasury was possibly built as a token of gratitude for a large endowment of wheat offered to Delphi's inhabitants during a lean period.
The Megarian Treasury was a building situated within the sanctuary of Apollo in Delphi, to the north of the Siphnian Treasury along the Sacred Way. On its façade have been inscribed 26 inscriptions referring to the citizens of Megara, a fact which led to the secure identification of the monument.
The Treasury of the Sicyonians is one of the buildings within the sanctuary of Apollo in Delphi. It has a long and complicated history. The treasury itself replaced two former buildings, namely the tholos and the monopteros, built by the same city at an earlier stage within the 6th century. The earlier buildings were related to the Orthagorids of Sicyon and particularly to the victories of the tyrant Cleisthenes of Sicyon in the course of the First Sacred War and their replacement probably marks the change in tide in Sicyonian politics.
After the naval Battle of Aegospotami, the Lacedaemonians dedicated a majestic ex voto in Delphi.
The Halos was a round open space close to the temple of Apollo in Delphi, where ancient rituals were being performed.
Next to the Bull of the Corcyreans close to the entrance to the sanctuary of Apollo in Delphi lay a grandiose monument dedicated by the Arcadians, particularly the Tegeates.
Behind the column with the Dancers of Delphi was situated the Athenian Treasury, where was located the famous ex voto of Daochos, a long marble base where stood nine statues, eight of which represented members of Daochos' family and one a god, probably Apollo. Daochos II, son of Agias, a politician from Pharsalus and supporter of Macedonia, was a hieromnemon at the delphic sanctuary from 336 to 332 B.C. He dedicated the ex voto as a sign of honour to his prominent family.
The Treasury of the Thebans at Delphi was built in the Doric order and made entirely out of local limestone from the quarries of St. Elias close to the town of Chrisso. It was situated a few meters below the first turn of the Sacred Way, the processional route in the sanctuary of Apollo. It had been dedicated by the Thebans for their victory against the Lacedaemonians at Leuctra.
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Coordinates: 38°28′55.68″N22°30′6.72″E / 38.4821333°N 22.5018667°E