library tile Delos
 Mariana Ornelas' Trip to Greece, Summer 2001
Delos is a sacred, uninhabited island, which according to legend, is the birthplace of Apollo. It at the geographic center of the Cycladic Islands near Mykonos. Its strategic location made it easily accessible to mainland Greece, Ionian Islands, Rhodes, Samos and Crete. It became an important trading center and remained a holy, spiritual place throughout the many conquests it endured. The island first flourished during the second half of the second millenium BC (1580-1200 BC), the Mycenaean Perod. During this period, the island's maritime supremacy went unmatched until it was conquered by the Ionians who further developed the island. The Odyssey and the Homeric Hymn to Apollo mention Delos as a well known religious center. Later the Athenians, rivals of the Ionians, conquered the island. They lost control of it however at the start of the Persian Wars (490 BC), but the Persians never violated the site. Athenians later regained control of Delos and it became the seat of the Athenian League of Aegean Cities. The Treasury was kept here until it was tranferred to the Acropolis for greater safety. Under Athenian rule, no one could either die or give birth on the island. (Source: Delos: Monuments and Museum by Photini Zaphiropoulou, Krene Editions, Athens, 1993, pp.5-7)
Delos
Approaching Delos 		Delos
Approaching Delos 		delos
Sacred Way 		delos
Temple remains
delos
Theater 		delos
Temple of Dionysus 		delos
Temple of Dionysus

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