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DELPHI

At the foot of Parnassus, the evocative landscape that is formed between two rocks, the Fedriades, is the Pan-Hellenic sanctuary of Delphi, the most famous oracle of ancient Greece. According to ancient legend, the two eagles left from Zeus from the ends of the universe to find the center of the world, met at Delphi. Since then, Delphi identified with the navel of the earth, and not just geographically. For many centuries constituted a high spiritual and religious center and symbol of unity of the ancient Greeks.

The oldest finds in Delphi dating to the Neolithic period (4000 BC) and found at the Korykeion Cave, a cave on Mount Parnassus, where took place the first cults. The heyday of the Delphic oracle made between 6 th and 4 th century. BC The oracles, which were considered the most reliable, expressed by the Pythia, and were given to interested parties by the priests of Apollo, in the form of verses. Cities, rulers and ordinary people alike consulted the god. The gratitude and religious sentiment translate into great gifts that gradually filled the sanctuary.

The principle of operation of the oracle goes back to age-old times, and its fame reached to the ends of the world. It is believed that the Delphic oracle gave estimates of the flood of Deucalion, the Argonauts and the Trojan War.