GREAT SANCTUARY OF APOLLO

Linked to the agora of the Competaliastes by the Sacred Way, the sanctuary of Apollo was the nerve center of the island. Even today, it comprises some twenty buildings in ruins, giving an idea of its importance in its heyday. It covers an area of 4 hectares, with five (or six) temples, porticoes, treasures and the political institutions of the city of Delos. The complex was designed from the outset around the Horned Altar, 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 BC, this workshop-boutique 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 occupied by a religious brotherhood from Naxos. Elongated in shape 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 may be a fifth temple dedicated to Apollo.

Colossus of the Naxians. Right next to the "house" of the Naxians, you'll find a white marble bust that once belonged to a huge statue of Apollo. Erected by the inhabitants of Naxos in the early ^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 remained visible. Several expeditions tried in vain to straighten the 15-tonne statue. An impossible task in the end. In desperation, around 1675, the English and Venetians finally cut the statue down, obliterating parts such as the head. Today, a portion of the colossus' left leg can be seen at the British Museum in London, while the left hand is preserved at the Archaeological Museum of Delos. In addition to the bust, note the statue's imposing pedestal: it weighs 32 tons and bears one of the earliest inscriptions in archaic Greek. This 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 m southwest of the sanctuary. Built at the end of the ^6th century BC by the Naxians, it retains its fine marble paving. In the corner, next to the propylaea, note a circular granite base. This housed the famous "Palm of Nicias", a colossal bronze statue donated by Athenian general Nicias in 417 BC. No longer extant (most bronze works were melted down in late Antiquity), the statue symbolized the founding myth of Delos: the palm tree on Mount Cynthe under which Leto gave birth to Apollo and Artemis.

Temple of the Delians. Also known as the Great Temple, this Doric edifice stands to the left of the Naxians' "house". Measuring 31 m long by 15 m wide, it is the largest of the sanctuary's four/five temples dedicated to Apollo. However, it was never completed: financed by the treasury of the League of Delos, 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 m), now collapsed, remained without capitals or a roof.

Temple of the Athenians. Located just to the left of 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 Athens region), it was designed by the great architect Callicrates, who was responsible for the Parthenon and the Temple of Athena Nikè on the Acropolis in Athens. Nicknamed the Temple of the Seven Statues, it was renowned for its seven precious chryselephantine ("gold and ivory") statues set on acroteria of grey-blue marble from Eleusis (near Athens). Remarkable fragments of these pedestals can be seen in the museum.

Temple Pôrinos. Following on from the Delian and Athenian temples, this is the smallest and oldest of the four/five temples dedicated to Apollo. The base, 10 m wide by 16 m long, is still clearly visible. It is an archaic temple built in the ^6th century B.C. 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 in its construction. It housed the treasury of the League of Delos and an 8-m-high statue of Apollo.

Horn altar. Opposite the Temple of the Athenians, a more or less circular pile of stones indicates the presence of the Kératôn. This "horn" altar, also known as the Altar of Delos, formed the centerpiece of the sanctuary. It was built in the ^4th century B.C. 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 on Delos until the advent of Christianity. It was here that the great ritual ox sacrifices took place. And it was around the altar that the géranos (dance) and the race with flagellations were performed during the Déliades, the feasts in honor of Apollo. The central position of the Keratôn is emphasized by a blue marble pavement linking it directly to the propylaea.

Pythion. The blue marble pavement continues northeast of the Horn Altar, to the remains of Apollo's fourth/fifth temple in the sanctuary. More precisely, Apollo was honored here as the Pythian god: it was he who killed Python, the serpent protector of the Delphic Pythia. Having thus become the god of wine, Apollo was consulted by pilgrims via an oracle. Built by the Athenians in the ^4th century BC, the square-shaped 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) stands the Treasury of Apollo, a building used to collect donations from pilgrims.

Temple and portico of Artemis. Apollo's twin sister, the goddess of the hunt, had an entire sanctuary on the nearby island of Rhenaeus. In Delos, however, Artemis is honored by a single temple integrated into her brother's sanctuary. It stands just behind the Pythion and is smaller than the latter (15 x 10 m). The well-preserved foundations reveal a prostyle building (a single row of columns on the façade). It was built in 179 B.C. on the site of two temples already dedicated to Artemis, the oldest of which dates back to Mycenaean times (^16th-12th centuries B.C.). 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 pathway.

Treasures. Five buildings housing the treasures of Greek cities are positioned in an arc behind the Pôrinos temple, on the right after the portico of Artemis. Containing offerings and precious goods, these treasures numbered seven in all and served as a "showcase" for the cities' propaganda. Fewer in number than at Delphi, they are also less well identified. The^2nd from the left could be the Hestiatorion of the Keians, i.e. the treasure/banquet hall on the island of Keos (today Kea), 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 dating from the ^mid-4th century B.C. that housed the Boulè (restricted assembly responsible for laws) and the Prytane (Boulè's executive committee) of the citizens of Delos.

Neôrion. This immense stone structure, 70 m long (north-south axis), 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 donated it to the sanctuary after his victory over the Ptolemies at Kos around 258 BC. In Greek, the term neôrion 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 commemorative neo-rion on 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.

North side of the sanctuary. In the area bordering the Agora des Italiens (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, stands the Thesmophorion, a vast edifice (37 m long) dedicated to the cult of Demeter, goddess of agriculture. It is adjoined by the Ekklésiastérion, which housed the assembly of all the citizens of Delos. Slightly further east, to the right of the main path, the Graphé housed the offices of the Ekklésiastérion. Next door, the immense portico of Antigone. This 120 m-long stoa (east-west axis) was supported by 48 Doric columns on the façade. It was built at the same time as the neo-rion by Antigone II Gonatas (^3rd century BC). Richly decorated, it was lined with a row of statues. Only one survives, and it's rather late: that of proconsul Gaius Villienus, who was Rome's ambassador to Delos in the ^1st century B.C. But it gives an idea of the height of the building and its alignment of statues. Finally, between the portico of Antigone and the treasuries, a long space houses the "Hyperborean tombs", a little-known place of worship dedicated to the virgins Laudice and Hyperoche, characters from the mythical Hyperborean people ("all the way to the north") who, according to Greek mythology, transported Apollo from Delos to Delphi.