Κόλπος Φούρνοι

Mt. Cynthus

If you visit Delos consider hiking to this hill, you get a view of almost the entire island and a sense for how important the place was historically.

in this house they found the headless statues of the owners, Dioskourides and his wife Cleopatra, a couple from Athens; they were erected in 138 BC by Cleopatra after the death of her husband; French archaeologists chose to name the house after her, a decision which increases the number of visitors, but disappoints those of them who believed there was a link between the location and Cleopatra VII, the famous Egyptian queen. Cleopatra is a Greek name meaning "glory of her father".

A temple dedicated, probably, to the mythic Greek goddess Tyche (meaning "luck" in Greek), who was the personification of fortune, prosperity and wealth. The Roman equivalent was the goddess Fortuna.

A temple dedicated to the ancient Greek Goddess Aphrodite.

On the left from the harbor is the Agora of the Competialists (circa 150 BC), members of Roman guilds, mostly freedmen and slaves from Sicily who worked for Italian traders. They worshiped the Lares Competales, the Roman "crossroads" gods; in Greek they were known as Hermaistai, after the god Hermes, protector of merchants and the crossroads.

Agora of the Competialists, an open yard, surrounded by shops, small temples and altars, is the first monument that the visitors see, entering the archaeological site of Delos. Here were the stores of the merchants of the association of Roman citizens and liberalized slaves, who worshiped the gods of the "crossroads", the Lares Competales. However, the market served also other traders, Hermaists and Apolloniasts.

Public tank, constructed to collect water from the river Inopos, the sacred river of Delos, that its springs were on the Mt. Kynthos and also believed to contact underground with the river Nile in Egypt. The water used for the ceremonies of the Egyptian sanctuaries.

In this area there are temples that are dedicated to Egyptian Gods.

Group of private dwellings, named for the seasonal stream, Inopos, one of the only ones on the island. The waters were sacred, and were supposed to flow directly from the waters of the Nile River in Egypt.

Residential and commercial district. Most structures date from around the second or third century BC. Strolling up the road, you really get a good impression of what the ancient settlement was like. Actually, it's very much like walking the narrow streets of Mykonos. Minus the gay bars, of course.

It was the sanctuary of the Syrian gods, built probably around the middle of the 2nd century BC. This sanctuary was the place of worship of goddess Atargate and her partner Adas.

This was a Sanctuary built by Egyptian merchants, around 200 BC. It was the place of worship of the ancient Greek-Egyptian god Sarapis (or Serapis) and goddess Isida, and later Anubis and Horus, who was called by the ancient Greeks Arpokratis

One of the more complete houses. Mosaics feature theatrical masks, and a stunning floor with the god Dyonysus riding on a panther

It is located on the west side of the Sacred Way and was a commercial arcade with many shops. It was constructed by the Greek King Philippos V of Macedonia.

Archaic temple dedicated to Hera, queen of the gods. Built ca. 500 BC.

Beyond the path that leads to the southern part of the island is the ancient theater, built in the early 3rd century BC in the elegant residential quarter inhabited by Roman bankers and Egyptian and Phoenician merchants.

It could seat over 5000 people. Most of the stage buildings are gone and the theater seating is fairly overgrown, but it's still easy to imagine how spectacular it must have been to see a performance in this setting. Of course during the latter Roman era, who knows what passed for "entertainment." 

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Delos is the sacred island of the Ancient Greek, which according to mythology, was revealed among the waves of the Aegean to Leto, who was being chased by the jealous Hero; it was the refuge where she gave birth to Apollo and Artemis.

On Delos the admirably well-preserved ruins of one of the largest, most significant, and best- organized ancient Greek settlements are found. The island was first settled, probably by the Kares, about the 3rd millennium B.C. In the beginning of the 8th cent. B.C. it developed into a center of worship and was the capital city of an amphictyony of Aegean island.

At the end of the 6th cent B.C., the tendency of the Athenians was to take over the island: IN 540 B.C. Peisistratos ordered the first purification of the sanctuary. As a result of the second purification (426 B.C.) the entire contents of all the islands graves were remove to neighboring Rhenia. Afterwards in order to prevent desecration of the sanctuary, both births and deaths were forbidden on the island of Apollo.

The Athenians consecrated the first “Delia” dedicated to Leto, Artemis, and Apollo. In 315 B.C., when Macedonians arrived on the island, Delos achieved its independence and developed commercially.

During the Roman period, the island thrived, until, until 88 B.C.; the population included Egyptians, Syrians and Italians. Then, after two dreadful attacks during the Mithridatic War, Delos went into decline and was finally abandoned in the 6th cent A.D.

In 1873 the French Archaeological School of Athens started excavations and restoration to help the wealth of the island's history to be revealed. The Archaeological Museum of Delos houses one of Greece’s most important collections, including rare exhibits of ancient sculpture ceramic vessels, epigraphs and wonderful mosaics etc.

The sites of Delos and Rhenia are protected by the Ministry of Culture; thus, both the mooring of private boats there and staying overnight without official permission are strictly forbidden.

How to get there

There are daily trips to Delos, as long as the weather allows (connection by sea to Delos is difficult during winter or some summer days, mainly due to extreme wind conditions). During the high season trips to Delos are available from other islands of Cyclades as well (from Tinos and Naxos mainly).

This natural fissure in the rock was probably one of the oldest sites of worship on the island, dating at least back to archaic times. Symbolically, the fissure was the womb from which the goddess gave birth to life. In the 3rd century BC giant slabs of rock were added to form a roof, or replace a natural covering that collapsed. Carved into the living rock at the back of the fissure is a small platform on which a statue of Herakles once stood. Being inside here at sunset is truly a mystical experience...but don't miss your boat or you'll be spending the night

Excavations have unearthed the spectacular 3rd- to 5th-century mosaics of the Houses of Dionysus.

A temple dedicated to the ancient Greek god Zeus and goddess Athena.

One of the more elaborate and well preserved private structures on Delos. Originally it featured multiple stories, set into the hillside. Two floors have been restored. It was named after the "herme" or memorial stele found inside, and probably was some sort of meeting house, rather than a private residence. 

A huge water storage basin, once covered with a roof supported by huge stone arches, which are still standing. This was the primary water source for the theater quarter, and collected runoff from the hills above, channeled into the cistern through culverts. Classical engineering at its best!

Southern Stoa was built by the kings of Pergamon, in Asia Minor, in the early 3rd century BC. It is located on the east side of the Sacred Way and was a commercial arcade with many shops.

Named for the wonderfully preserved floor mosaics. Most likely built for a Phoenician trader, as one of the mosaics features the Phoenician god, Tanit, and another actually is "signed" by an artist named Askelepiades of Aradios, Aradios being a city in Phoenicia. As was typical during the Roman era, artists were important from all over the known world.