Delos
On the acropolis of Kynthos there was a fortified Proto-Cycladic settlement (3rd millennium BC). A Mycenaean settlement developed in the area of the sanctuary, where important elephant tiles were found (14th - 13th centuries BC). Delos (Little Delos), uninhabited today, one of the greatest sanctuaries in the Greek world, and the largest religious and political center of the Ionians. The sanctuary of Apollo is accessed from the port (ancient port facilities and a row of shops), from the S. by a sacred passage between the portico of Philip V of Macedonia and the southern portico, while from the N. it is bounded by the long portico of Macedonian King Antigonus Kneeling with the Minos Fountain behind her. The center of worship is located in the area of the three temples of Apollo oriented to the W., where the large idiosyncratic altar covered with an arch, the Kerato, which, according to tradition, was made by Apollo himself from goats' horns. Separate are the sanctuaries of Artemis to the S. and to the N. of Leto and the Twelve Gods. In the area of the sanctuary of Apollo, primitive cult relics (the case - tomb of the Mycenaean times and the "sign" of the Hyperborean Virgins), and outside the sanctuary, the Archigesion. Inside the sanctuary, the bull monument, a Hellenistic ship-shaped votive for some royal naval victory, the so-called "treasures" (perhaps houses for religious meals), and the rectory. Markets, of the Italians, of the Competalists or Hermaists (slaves and freedmen), of Theofrastos and of the Delians (commercial and political market) and various public buildings around the sanctuary of Apollo. Farther on, the sanctuaries of Aphrodite and Hera (7th - 6th century BC). Sanctuaries of local and foreign deities and a cult cave on the Kynthos mountain. In the NE. and B., gymnasium, palaistres, stadium, hippodrome. The unwalled city developed around the sanctuary of Apollo, which developed into a cosmopolitan center in the last pre-Christian centuries. In its advanced form, the city surrounds the sanctuary in an arc, in islets with topographical or urban planning centers (theatre, river Inopos) and with uncovered areas. It is the best preserved ancient city in Greece. In the 7th century BC.. the presence of the Naxians on the island is evident (house of the Naxians, early temple of Apollo, stoa of Naxians, lions between the sacred lake - birthplace of Apollo and his sister Artemis - and the Letoon, classic statue of Apollo , of which parts and its base are preserved). From the time of Peisistratos (540 - 528 BC ) the Athenian domination of the island becomes evident (the ancient Ionic temple of Apollo). After the Persians, from 478 BC. it is the seat of the First Athenian Alliance. Between 314 BC and 167 BC Delos is independent and participates in the "Commonwealth of the Islanders" under Ptolemaic leadership. The construction of the pavilion of the large Doric temple of Apollo continues.
In 167 BC, by decision of the Roman senate, it was declared a free port and came under the control of the Athenians. The 2nd and 1st c. BC there is the settlement of many merchants from all over the Mediterranean and the introduction of foreign cults alongside the native ones (three sanctuaries of Sarapids and Egyptian deities, a Syrian deity sanctuary, a Beirut Poseidonian religious association and an Israeli synagogue, the oldest of the Diaspora). Luxurious houses of those times, with a peristyle, often two-storey, with frescoes and famous mosaic floors, are preserved in the theater district (the theater was built around 250 BC).
In the 4th c. A.D. Delos is promoted to a bishopric. In the 7th century the island is abandoned. In the SE. of the market of Delia, a single-aisled basilica of the middle of the 6th century, dedicated to Agios Kyrykos, was excavated. Second single-aisled basilica (perhaps 7th century) near the Asklepiion.
In the local Museum, a multitude of sculptures and mosaic floors that attest to the artistic flourishing in the Hellenistic era.
Editor: Fotini Anastasopoulou