We reached the island of Delos very early in the morning. It was such an experience to enjoy the calmness of the water and the sun rising behind the sacred birthplace of Apollo.
We arrived in Delos and it was impossible not to think and compare how it was in the past and how it is today. So small and rocky, today almost uninhabited—except the archaeologists and the scholars that live permanently on it—BUT back in the ancient times it was a prestigious religious center, it was one of the most important places of pilgrimage of the known world of antiquity embellished with great temples, shrines, altars, with hundreds of beautiful statues that were the offerings of the visitors to the patron god Apollo and to his sister Artemis. Even later when the religious importance started declining, Delos by being declared as a free independent port became the most popular, cosmopolitan center of trade and commerce that attracted the interest of merchants, sailors and seamen, bankers and businessmen from all over the world. In those times many of whom bought property would build luxurious and sophisticated mansions.
Sometimes it is hard to believe that this small island became the core of political, social, intellectual, and spiritual life with no interruption for so many centuries but the evidence is everywhere. Wherever we look they justify and make us realize the power, importance, and wealth that the island and its people experienced. We were fortunate to walk in some of the ancient beautiful houses, to reach the theater where theatrical competitions of tragedies and comedies were held, to march along the processional way as the thousands of pilgrims did, to visualize the grace and elegance of their offerings placed everywhere around, and of course to feel the mystic protective power of the statues of the lions that were the sacred guardians of the place where Apollo and Artemis were born. At the end of our visit to Delos we had the feeling that we had our own journey through antiquity as seen through the lens of today.
