Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
fountain-house, the celebrated
Castalian spring
still flows from a cleft - the legendary
lair of Python.
Visitors to Delphi were obliged to
purify
themselves in its waters, usually by
washing their hair, though murderers had to take the full plunge.
Lord Byron
,
impressed by the legend that the waters nurtured poetic inspiration, also jumped in.
This is no longer possible, since the spring is fenced off owing to sporadic rock falls
from the cliffs.
The Marmaria
Same opening time as main sanctuary, but visits allowed until sunset • Free
Across and below the road from the spring is the
Marmaria
(
marmariá
means “marble
quarry”, after the medieval practice of filching the ancient blocks for private use).
The most conspicuous building in the precinct, easily visible from the road, is the
Tholos
, a fourth-century BC rotunda. Three of its dome-columns and their
entablature have been rebuilt, but while these amply demonstrate the original
beauty of the building (which is
the
postcard image of Delphi), its purpose
remains a mystery.
3
HIKING TO THE CORYCIAN CAVE
The
Corycian Cave
(Korýkio Ándro) plays a significant part in Delphi mythology, since it was
sacred to Pan and the nymphs, and they were the presiding deities of the oracle during winter,
when Apollo abandoned the spot.
Allow a full day for this outing (4hr for ascent to cave, 3hr 30min back to Dhelfí - consult
The
Mountains of Greece
; see “Books” p.806), and take ample food. To reach the
trailhead
follow
signposting up through Dhelfí village to the
Museum of Delphic Festivals
. Continue climbing
from here to the highest point of the fence enclosing the sanctuary ruins. Where the track
ends at a gate, take a trail on your left, initially marked by a black-and-yellow rectangle on a
white background; these, repeated regularly, indicate the trail is part of the
E4 European
long-distance route
.
Initially steep, the way soon flattens out on a grassy knoll overlooking the stadium, and
continues along a ridge. Soon after, you join an ancient cobbled trail coming from inside the
fenced precinct - the
Kakí Skála
, which zigzags up the slope above you in broad arcs. The
path ends an hour-plus above the village, at the top of the
Phaedriades
cliffs. From one of
several nearby rock pinnacles those guilty of sacrilege in ancient times were thrown to their
deaths - a custom perhaps giving rise to the name Kakí Skála
or “Evil Stairway”.
E4 markers remain visible in the valley ahead of you as the principal route becomes a gravel
track bearing northeast; ignore this and follow instead a metal sign pointing toward the cave,
taking the right fork near the
Krokí spring
and watering troughs, with a complex of summer
cottages on your right. This track, now intermittently paved, passes a picnic ground and a
chapel of Ayía Paraskeví within fifteen minutes. Continue for some forty minutes beyond the
chapel, heading gently downhill and passing another sign for the cave, until you emerge from
the fir woods (2hr 40min from Dhelfí) with a view east and ahead to the rounded mass of the
Yerondóvrahos peak (2367m) of the Parnassós massif.
Another fifteen minutes bring you to a second chapel (of Ayía Triádha) on the left, with a
spring and picnic ground. To the left rises a steep ridge, site of the ancient
Corycian cave
.
Persevere along the road for five more minutes to where a white bilingual sign indicates a
newer path, marked by orange paint splodges and red-triangle signs. After forty minutes'
climb on this, you meet another dirt road; turn left and follow it five minutes more to the end,
just below the conspicuous cave mouth at an altitude of 1370m.
In ancient times, the cave was the site of orgiastic rites in November, when women, acting as
nymphs, made the long hike up from Delphi on the Kakí Skála by torchlight. If you look carefully
with a torch you can find
ancient inscriptions
near the entrance; without artificial light you
can't see more than 100m into the chilly, forbidding cavern. By the entrance you'll also notice a
rock with a man-made circular indentation - possibly an ancient altar for libations.
