The Delphi Theatre

Canon 50D | 10-22mm @ 10mm | 1/400 – 1/1600 – 1/100 @ f/8 | ISO 200

This is the Delphi theatre at the Delphi Archeological site. HDR photography allowed me to capture the theatre and the blinding sun rays in the sky.
For comparison: take a look at the three source HDR photos.

Subscribe to Marc's blog by Email

Athena Pronaia Sanctuary

Canon 50D | 17-55mm @ 18mm | 1/400 - 1/600 - 1/100 @ f/8 | ISO 200

This is the Athena Pronaia Sanctuary on the Delphi archeological site. The sunlight was very harsh, despite the clouds. An HDR photo was needed to capture the details in the sky and in the shadow sides of the rocks. Click on the photo to visit Flickr where you can view even larger versions.

Delphi Archelogical Site

We visited Delphi early in the morning – to beat the sun and the crowds. The site is only a kilometer from Hotel Pan – Artemis (the town of Delphi consists of three parallel streets).
 
Treasury of Athens


Rock of the Sybil. This is the place where the first prophetess pronounced her oracles.


Columns of the Temple of Apollo


Temple of Apollo


Athena Pronaia Sanctuary

Please stay tuned for some special photos of Delphi!

The Charioteer of Delphi

The Charioteer of Delphi is one of the most well-known statues of Ancient Greece. The bronze statue survived because it was buried under the ground, probably to protect it from looters.


A close-up – notice the inlaid eyes


Back of the Charioteer

Delphi Archeological Museum

We arrived in Delphi after a 45 minute drive from the monastery of Hosios Loukas. After checking into the Pan - Artemis hotel we enjoyed the view from our hotel room.

View from Hotel Pan room

You have to buy separate tickets for the Delphi Archeological Museum and the archeological site. Since we would stay only one night at Delphi we decided to visit the museum today and the site the next morning. Luckily you can buy a combined ticket for the museum and the site, and use the tickets on different days.
The museum has a nice collection:

Toes


Kleobis and Biton (yes, they are Kouroi)


Fragments of an Ionian silver-plated bull of the mid 6th century BCE, the largest example from antiquity of a statue made out of precious metal.


Naxian Sphinx

 
Acanthus column of the dancers

 
Detail of one of the dancers

The most beautiful item is of course the Charioteer of Delphi. More about him in an upcoming post!

Monastery of Hosios Loukas

View Larger Map
After visiting the Acropolis and the museums in Athens, our next destination was the Monastery of Hosios Loukas (C). It is about 180 km by car.
Getting the rental car was a major challenge. Our hotel (A) was located in the historic center of Athens. The roads are very narrow, drivers are not always well behaved, and it is easy to get stuck in traffic. The Kosmos car rental employee managed to get the car in front of our hotel. He offered to drive us to the drop-off point (B). This way I would know where to drop off the car, and it was easier to exit Athens to get on the main road. We followed his advice and he drove us to the drop-off point.

During the ride to the drop-off point I noticed the cigarette lighter receptable was not working. Since I would be driving to Delphi, Meteora and back to Athens using a navigation device a working cigarette lighter receptable was essential. At the drop-off point they found a replacement car. Only this car had no rear shelf so our suitcases could be clearly seen from outside. In the end they offered us an Opel Vectra with working cigarette lighter receptable and closed rear boot.

Looking for the right car meant we had a delay of 1.5 hours. This was important because we were told the monastery closed at 14 hours. We left at about 10 o’clock and we arrived at 12.50 at the monastery. We then found out that the monastery did not close at 14 hours…

Entrance

The monastery is on the UNESCO World Heritage List and it is one of the most important buildings on Middle Byzantine architecture and art. The interior is stunning.

Roof west entrance


Washing of the apostle's feet


Side entrance


Katholikon

Dome

 
Crypt


East side


West portal


Hosios Loukas