Delos

A small island in the Aegean, in the middle of the Cyclades, the birthplace of Apollo and Artemis. There was an important sanctuary which contained a colossal marble kouros and a sanctuary of Artemis with a temple. There are four main groups of ruins on the western coast: the commercial port and small sanctuaries; the religious city of Apollo, a hieron (sanctuary); the sanctuaries of Mount Cynthos and the theater; and the region of the Sacred Lake. There is evidence for some late Neolithic and some Mycenaean settlement; it was inhabited from the late 3rd millennium BC. Sometime early in the 1st millennium BC, its association with the worship of Apollo was established. The island became a populous religious and political center, with an oracle that was perhaps second only to Delphi. Delos was also chose as the headquarters and treasury for the important maritime alliance against the Persians, the Delian League (487 BC). Tine streets, Greek and oriental temples, meeting houses for the merchant guilds, a unique colonnaded ('hypostyle') hall, and splendid houses were built. Rome took the island in 166 BC, and eventually it was abandoned. Excavations have been conducted since 1873 by the French School of Athens.

Tiny central member of a group of islands in the central Aegean known to antiquity as the Cyclades (from the Greek kuklos, ‘circle’) because they encircled the holy island of There is evidence for some late Neolithic and some Mycenaean settlement. Sometime early in the 1st millennium BC association with the worship of Apollo is established, and myth claimed the island as his birthplace. This religious link, coupled with vigorous promotion by Athens from the middle of the 6th century to the end of the 4th century bc, turned the island into a populous religious and political centre for the Aegean, with an oracle that was perhaps second only to Delphi. Delos was also chosen as the headquarters and treasury for the important maritime alliance against the Persians, the Delian League. After 314 bc a period of neutrality brought commercial prosperity, and Hellenistic kings contributed towards its monuments. Further success came with the status of free port from 166 bc, and a cosmopolitan community helped to create fine streets, Greek and oriental temples, meetinghouses for the merchant guilds, a unique colonnaded (‘hypostyle’) hall, and splendid houses. From 88 bc various pirate attacks indicate a lessening investment and this, combined with the general westward shift in commercial and political focus which had come with Roman domination of the eastern Mediterranean, eventually led to the abandonment of the island. Excavations have been conducted since 1873 by the French School (Athens).