Page 58 - MYCONIAN COLLECTION MAG 2018

discover|ancient city
oiKos –“House” in greek. the well-preserved houses on delos have school of Archaeology, workers and security guards. .
given archaeologists information about life in that era. A corridor led VieW –Head up the path starting at the southeast corner of the theatre
from the main door to a court, where some homes featured a peristyle Quarter to reach Mount cynthus, a 113 metre hill at the centre of the
(roofed corridor) and mosaic floor. Many of the wealthy houses were island. From here, the view is impressive. on a clear day you can see
equipped with cisterns to store the rainwater. most of the islands of the cyclades.
pUriFicAtion –Following an oracle, peisistratus, the tyrant of West coAst –small boats carry visitors from Mykonos to delos’
Athens, proceeded to a partial purification and “purified” the island commercial port, on its west coast.
for the first time. As thucydides wrote, “not all of it, but what can be xenopHoBiA –two years ago, the ancient theatre of delos came Inspired
seen from the sanctuary”. that is to say, peisistratus had the graves in back to life after 2,100 years to house the show “Hecuba, a refugee
this part of delos removed. this event took place during peisistratus’ on delos”, based on the monologues of the queen from eurupides’
third reign, so probably in 540-528 Bc. tragedies “Hecuba” and “troades” and directed by nikos Karageorgos. by Delos
QUArters –three important city quarters, the Quarter of the prominent greek actress despoina Bebedeli played the lead, sending a
theatre, Lake/skardana Quarter and the stadium Quarter have been powerful message against xenophobia and linking the cosmopolitan past
found. the former is the oldest, and that’s why it does not follow urban of open-minded delos with the xenophobic present of the refugee crisis.
planning patterns. on the contrary, the latter two have wider streets yoUng BLood –According to greek mythology, delos was
leading from north to south and east to west, following a grid plan. none revealed (in greek, “revealed” shares the same root as “delos”) when
of the quarters appears to have been segregated according to race or poseidon touched his trident on the surface of the sea, after the island
wealth. the rich lived next to the poor and greeks next to foreigners. had been sailing the archipelago for years. Zeus chained it to the bottom
riVer –in ancient times, rainwater formed river inopus, which of the Aegean with a chain made of diamonds so that Leto could find
flowed down the slopes of Mount cynthus. streaming down to the refuge there, beneath a palm tree, to give birth to the two new gods:
lowest part of the island, north of the shrine, the same water also first Artemis, the goddess of the hunt, and then Apollo.
formed the sacred Lake. Zone –A special economic zone and arguably one of the first
sAnctUAry oF ApoLLo –the most important spot on the island. examples in history of the economic model of the seZ. the unique The Director of the
tAnit –An apotropaic symbol found at the main entrance of the historical value of delos also comes from the fact that it was the first
private home of the dolphins. it is the sign of punic-phoenician Free Zone. Located at the heart of the Aegean and the trade routes of Ephorate of Antiquities
goddess tanit, believed to protect from bad luck. the time, it was exempt from taxes. it was pronounced a free port by of Cyclades, Dimitris
UninHABited –the island is uninhabited, with the exception of the romans in 166 Bc, which greatly contributed to the impressive Athanasoulis, reveals
greek archaeologists, some French archaeologists from the French development of the island.
the plan to conserve
and manage the sacred
CLEopatra HoUsE archaeological site of
Headless statues of the owners Cleopatra and Dioskourides stand near the entrance of this house. They are remains of an ancient villa, Delos.
one of the high-class residences in the theatre quarter.
056 MYCONIAN COLLECTION
tHE tErraCE of tHE Lions
Marble lions stand in line facing east towards the Sacred Lake
as eternal guards of the shrine.
The €550,000 donation from the Kanellopoulos Institute to restore part of the Stoa of Philip V of
Macedon was a good start since, as you have said, Delos needs sponsors, and potentially even sponsors
to adopt certain monuments. Do certain Delos monuments have priority? At the moment, the ephorate
is focused on integrating delos to european programmes. After we have submitted our application, we will
look into the needs of monuments that can be covered through private initiative. it goes without saying
that citizens’ offers are very welcome since they do not only provide credits for the monuments but they
directly and organically link delos to local community – a bond crucial to its survival.
It had been deemed necessary for Delos specifically to upgrade its visitor infrastructure and add certain
amenities. What exactly would be ideal for the site? the ephorate of Antiquities of cyclades is currently
putting together an integrated plan to conserve and manage delos based on its singular characteristics. in
this context, we address issues of customer service, accessibility to the island, visitor footfall and paths etc.
According to reports, necessary funds to build a new museum reach €20 million, which of course has
to be sourced. Is there a museum you dream for Delos? our complete management plan includes a new
approach to museum infrastructure on the island. our aim is to integrate the exhibits into the archaeological
site and take down new structures so that visitors can enjoy a unique experience of travelling back in time.
the estimated cost of these operations and museum infrastructure is indeed in that range.
Among the goals of the “Vanity” exhibition as set by the Ephorate was to renovate the buildings of
the Cyclades museums and renew their exhibitions, which feature leading samples of Greek art and
architecture. How has this plan evolved, and how does it relate to Delos? As you know, Vanity was
a milestone in archaeological museum exhibitions internationally. this year, the ephorate is developing
another phase of its programme, namely numerous periodic exhibitions in various cyclades islands. in
most of them, contemporary artists are inspired by the antiquities and showcase their artwork right next
to the exhibits in our archaeological museums. At the same time, “cycladic snapshots”, the successful
modal exhibition we organised at the Byzantine Museum in Athens is now touring the cyclades isles. We
are thus holding exhibitions this summer at the following museums: delos, thera, Byzantine Museum of
naxos, sagri, naxos, Koufonisi, Archaeological Museum of Andros and Archaeological Museum of Milos.