GREAT SANCTUARY OF APOLLO

Linked to the agora of the Competaliastes by the Sacred Way, the sanctuary of Apollo was the nerve centre of the island. Today, it still gathers about twenty buildings in the state of ruins, which gives an idea of its importance at the time of its splendour. It extends over 4 hectares with five (or six) temples, but also porticoes, treasures and the political institutions of the city of Delos. This complex was originally designed around the Altar of Horns, created according to legend by Apollo himself.

Theandridai workshop. Set back to the right of the propylaea, you can see the remains of an ergastíria

where pottery was made and sold to pilgrims. Built in the 4th century B.C., this workshop and shop was run by one of the great families of Delos, the Theandridai, descendants of a certain Theandros.

House of the Naxians. On the right, opposite the propylaea, are the foundations of an early 6th century BC building that was occupied by a religious brotherhood of Naxos. Elongated and made of large granite blocks, the building was long considered an oikos

, a "house" where offerings and sacred materials were stored. However, since the 1980s, new research has established that it is a fifth temple dedicated to Apollo.

Colossus of the Naxians.

Right next to the "house" of the Naxians, you will find here a white marble bust that belonged to a huge statue of Apollo. Erected by the inhabitants of Naxos at the beginning of the 6th century, this kouros ("young man") has long impressed travellers - and understandably so - with its 9 m height and the finesse of its construction. When, in the Middle Ages, the entire sanctuary was gradually buried, the head of the colossus was still visible. Several expeditions tried, in vain, to raise the 15-ton statue. In the end, it was an impossible task. In desperation, around 1675, the English or Venetians ended up cutting it up, making certain parts like the head disappear. Today, a portion of the left leg of the colossus is in London, at the British Museum, while the archaeological museum of Delos preserves the left hand. On site, in addition to the bust, note the imposing pedestal of the statue: it weighs 32 tons and bears one of the oldest inscriptions in archaic Greek. The latter indicates that the entire work was made from the "same marble" from a quarry on Naxos.

Portico of the Naxians. To the left of the propylaea, this L-shaped stoa

stretches 60 meters (200 feet) southwest of the sanctuary. Built in the late 6th century BC by the Naxians, it still has a beautiful marble floor. In the corner, next to the propylaea, notice a circular granite base. This was the site of the famous "Palm of Nicias", a colossal bronze statue donated in 417 BC by the Athenian general Nicias. Now lost (most of the bronze works were melted down at the end of Antiquity), the statue symbolized the founding myth of Delos: the palm tree of Mount Cynthe under which Leto had given birth to Apollo and Artemis.

Temple of the Delians.

Also called the Great Temple, this Doric building is located to the left of the "house" of the Naxians. At 31 meters long and 15 meters wide, it is the largest of the four/five temples in the sanctuary dedicated to Apollo. However, it was never completed: financed by the treasury of the League of Delos, its construction began in 476 BC, but was halted when the treasury was transferred to Athens in 454 BC. Despite a resumption of work in 314 BC, the columns (6 x 13), which have now collapsed, remained without capitals and without a roof.

Temple of the Athenians.

Located just next to the temple of the Delians, it was built by Athens between 421 and 415 BC during a period of truce during the Peloponnesian wars (the "peace of Nicias"). Completely collapsed, it was an amphiprostyle Doric building, i.e. with columns on the front and back (here 6 on each side) and solid walls on the long sides. Made of pentelic marble (from the region of Athens), it was designed by the great architect Callicrates, to whom we owe the Parthenon and the temple of Athena Nike on the Acropolis of Athens. Known as the Temple of the Seven Statues, it was renowned for its seven precious chryselephantine ("gold and ivory") statues placed on grey-blue marble acroteria from Eleusis (near Athens). Remarkable fragments of these pedestals can be seen in the museum.

Temple Pôrinos. Placed after the temples of the Delians and the Athenians, it is the smallest and the oldest of the four/five temples dedicated to Apollo. The base, 10 m wide and 16 m long, is still clearly visible. It is an archaic temple built in the 6th century BC by an Athenian tyrant who wanted to control the Cyclades. The building owes its name to the poros

, a limestone tuff from Delos, which was used for its construction. It housed the treasury of the League of Delos as well as an 8 m high statue of Apollo.

Altar of horns. In front of the temple of the Athenians, a more or less circular pile of stone indicates the presence of the Keratôn. This altar of horns, also called the Altar of Delos, was the centre of the sanctuary. It was built in the 4th century BC by the Athenians on the site where, according to legend, Apollo had, at the age of 4, erected an altar from the horns of goats hunted by his twin Artemis on Mount Cynthe. The site remained the most sacred place in Delos until the advent of Christianity. It was here that the great ritual sacrifices of oxen took place. And it was around the altar that the geranos (dance) and the race with flagellations were performed during the Delia, the festivals in honour of Apollo. The central position of the Keratôn

is emphasized by a blue marble pavement that connects it directly to the propylaea.

Pythion.

The blue marble pavement continues northeast of the Horned Altar to the remains of the fourth/fifth temple of Apollo in the sanctuary. Specifically, Apollo was honored here as the Pythian god: he killed Python, the serpent protector of the Pythia of Delphi. Thus, Apollo became a god of wine and was consulted by pilgrims through an oracle. Built by the Athenians in the 4th century BC, the square building (18 m on each side) was probably intended to house, in addition to the oracle, a sacred palm tree, evoking the birth of Artemis and Apollo in Delos. To the left of the Pythion (between the portico of the Naxians and a modern shelter) is the Treasury of Apollo, a building that was used to collect donations from pilgrims.

Temple and portico of Artemis.

Apollo's twin sister and goddess of the hunt had an entire sanctuary on the nearby island of Rhenaeus. But Artemis is honored in Delos by only one temple integrated into the sanctuary of her brother. It is located just behind the Pythion and is smaller than the latter (15 x 10 m). The well-preserved foundations make it possible to recognize a prostyle building (a single row of columns on the façade). It was built in 179 BC on the site of two temples already dedicated to Artemis, the oldest of which dates back to the Mycenaean period (16th-12th centuries BC). The Pythion and the Temple of Artemis are bordered on the east by the Portico of Artemis (31 m long from north to south), some of whose columns have been raised along the main path.

Treasures. Five buildings that housed the treasures of Greek cities are placed in an arc behind the temple of Pôrinos, on the right after the portico of Artemis. Containing offerings and precious goods, these treasures were seven in all and served as a "showcase" for the cities' propaganda. Less numerous than at Delphi, they are also less well identified. The^second from the left could be the Hestiatorion of the Keians, i.e. the treasure/banquet hall on the island of Keos (today Kea), which was mentioned by Herodotus in the^5th

century BC.

Bouleuterion and prytaneum.

To the south of the treasuries, behind the temples of Apollo, are the rectangular bases of two buildings from the mid-4th century BC that housed the Bulae (small assembly in charge of laws) and the Prytane (executive committee of the Bulae) of the citizens of Delos.

Neôrion. This huge stone structure is 70 m long (north-south axis) and is located behind the treasuries, the bouleuterion and the prytaneum. It housed a giant trier, the flagship of the fleet of the Macedonian king Antigonus II Gonatas. The latter offered it to the sanctuary after his victory in Kos around 258 BC against the Ptolemies. In Greek, the term neo-rion is used to designate both an arsenal and a memorial to celebrate a naval victory. Along with the one on the island of Samothrace, the memorial neo-rion of Delos is the most famous of its kind. To the southeast are the stone blocks that belonged to the altar of Zeus Polieus ('protector of the city'), built in the late 6th or early^5th

century BC.

Northern part of the sanctuary. In the part bordering the Agora of the Italians (Lake district), the sanctuary of Apollo housed five large ancient structures, traces of which are still visible. To the northwest, behind the Temple of Artemis, is the Thesmophorion, a vast building (37 m long) linked to the cult of Demeter, goddess of agriculture. It is adjoined by the Ekklesiasterion, which hosted the assembly of all the citizens of Delos. Slightly more to the east, to the right of the main path, the Graphé housed the offices of the Ekklesiasterion. And right next to it begins the huge portico of Antigone. This stoa

is 120 m long (east-west axis) and was supported by 48 Doric columns on the façade. It was built at the same period as the Neo-Rion by Antigonus II Gonatas (3rd century BC). Richly decorated, it was lined with a row of statues. Only one statue remains and it is quite late, it is that of the proconsul Gaius Villienus, who was ambassador of Rome in Delos in the 1st century BC. But it gives an idea of the height of the building and its alignment of statues. Finally, between the portico of Antigonus and the treasures, a long space hosts the "Hyperborean tombs", a little-known place of worship dedicated to the virgins Laudice and Hyperoche, characters of the mythical people of the Hyperboreans ("all north") who, according to Greek mythology, transported Apollo from Delos to Delphi.