The Stadium at Delphi hosted the Pythian games, which was one of the four main athletic competitions in ancient Greece and second only to the Olympic games. It is partially built on the slope of Mount Parnassus with a retaining wall on the opposite side. It is the most well preserved stadium in greece
Ancient Greece
The stadium sits above the rest of the Delphi complex and is partly built into the slope of Mount Parnassus. The stadium was founded in the 5th century B.C. In the 2nd century B.C. due to financing from Herodes Atticus, took the form of its current state with the stone seating and the three arch entrance. Herodes Atticus was also involved in other Greek structures such as… a theater called the Odeon of Herodes Atticus at the Acropolis of Athens The stadium is one stadion long, which is about 180 meters long, with the starting point at the location we first reached the stadium and the finish line at the far end. It was used for the music contests prior to the theater having been built.
Architecture
It is believed that the stadium held as many as 7,000 attendees. On the Northern side, which is built into the slope of Mount Parnassus, there are 12 rows of seats. The Southern side and the semicircular ends only have 6 rows of seats. This was due to the terrain’s sloping geography and is also the reason that the Southern side required a retaining wall. The starting gates had marble slabs with fluting on the floor, which is indented grooves running along them. This was done so that the runners’ feet would have grip. There are also square notches for the posts that would have separated the runners. During the Roman period there was a monumental vaulted structure on the Eastern side for the entrance. It was supported by three arches that sat on four square pillars. The two central pillars had notches for statues. There were corridors above the seats, which allowed attendees to walk around and could be reached by four staircases. In the middle of the north side of seats there is a long bench with a backrest that takes up the space of about two rows of seats. These were the honorary seats for judges and high ranking officials. At the north-west end, above the seats, there was a spring in a dome structure that provided water for the attendees.
Pythian Games
There were four main ancient Greek athletic games the Pythia, in Delphi that was dedicated to Apollo, the Isthmia, near Corinth that was dedicated to Poseidon, the Nemea, near Argos that was dedicated to both Zeus and Hercules, and Olympic, in Olympia that was dedicated to Zeus. The Pythian games were held in honor of Apollo’s defeat of the giant snake Pytho and were second in importance to the Olympic Games. With Apollo being the god of music and the arts, there were athletic and artistic competitions with the winner of the flute playing competition then playing the flute during the Olympics’ long jump competition. The stadium hosted the athletic competitions of the Pythian games on the 5th day of the religious festival, which lasted 6 to 8 days. The Charioteer in the archeological site’s museum is a great example of the importance of the games. It was a monument erected in commemoration of a victory that took place in 478 or 474 B.C. by the family of the Syracusan tyrant.
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