Page 48 - MYCONIAN COLLECTION MAGAZINE 2024

SA CRED ISLA ND

Delos has its challenges (as an enormous site which needs to
be restored, excavated and requires new infrastructure, among
other things), it remains a unique archaeological site which
spans the entirety of an island. The fact that the antiquities
are in good condition and that so many of them remain
allows visitors to visualise the ancient city in a comparable
way to Pompeii. This is not possible in any other ancient city
in Greece. There are many Roman cities in the Middle East,
Syria or Africa which are in good condition, but on Delos you
experience a scenery unchanged since antiquity, which we
could say represents time itself! Even people who believe
themselves to be indifferent to the past leave Delos having
Explore the timeless allure of
gained something from their visit”.
STAGES IN HISTORY
“It is worth stopping at the Sanctuary of Apollo first, as it is Delos, where ancient myths
the reason the city was called into existence as one of the
largest Hellenic sanctuaries in the Mediterranean. Imbued with
the meaning of ‘sanctity’, this sacred place already existed in intertwine with archaeological
Homer’s era and reached its peak during the Archaic period
(7th-6th century BC) and the Classical period (5th-4th century
BC). Citizens from the outer reaches of the Greek world marvels, creating a captivating
travelled to the island to worship the God of Light. From the PHOTO: CHRISTOS DRAZOS
mid-6th century BC up to the 4th century BC, Athens imposed journey through the cradle of
itself politically and culturally on the sacred island. During that
period, the Sanctuary was the centre of the Athenian Republic,
a symbol for the birth of western civilisation, and headquarters Mediterranean civilization.
of the Athenian Empire (also known as the Delian League). AN ANCIENT SANCTUARY
When the League ceased to exist, this great Hellenistic As antiquities curator Dr Themistoklis
model city developed, encompassing all aspects of the Greek Vakoulis says "Delos is on the list of
World. The Hellenistic city, remains of which visitors can see UNESCO World Heritage Sites. It has a
great history to tell that is rich in terms
today, developed after 167 BC, when the Romans gave Delos of length, intensity and diversity.”
back to the Athenians and declared it a free port; a move
which contributed to its rapid economic ascent. Merchants,
bankers and shipowners from all of the known world settled
there, attracting a large number of masons, craftsmen and
sculptors. It was a large city with public buildings such as
the Bouleuterion (Assembly House), the Prytaneion and the
Ekklesiasterion, with religious and merchant guilds such as
the Poseidonianists of Beirut housed in buildings, squares and narrow streets of this 2nd century BC city have the same
with votive offerings from Italian guilds such as the Agora of ambience as those of Mykonos Town, let us remind ourselves
the Competaliasts and unique houses decorated with murals, that in antiquity, Mykonos was a satellite of Delos. When the
mosaic floors and statues. It was a transport hub for the Ancient Greeks built Delos, it was from Mykonos that they
Eastern Mediterranean due to the privileges granted by the took the materials. And conversely, when Delos collapsed,
Romans and encouraged an unprecedented cosmopolitanism, the Mykonians took these materials back again to build and
where all the peoples of the known world met, accumulating fortify their own houses! What is of particular interest for the
enormous amounts of wealth which was invested in contemporary visitor is the phenomenon of universality. The
constructing an elaborate city with winding streets, unique fact that ‘foreigners’ from all over the world lived in Delos, that
buildings such as the only marble theatre in the Aegean there was open trade with the East and the West and a vast
as well as three-storey houses (The House of the Lake, The syncretism – an amalgamation of different religions, cultures,
House of Dolphins, The House of Masks, The House of the or schools of thought – with Greek temples but also places of
Trident, The House of Dionysus and The House of Cleopatra) worship from other Eastern religions such as the Temple of Isis
with colonnades and unique mosaics. And if the squares and the Synagogue.” •

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