Fodor's Expert Review Sanctuary of Apollo
Beyond the Sacred Way is one of the most important sites on the island, the Sanctuary of Apollo. Three separate temples originally stood here flanked by altars, monuments, and statues, although not much remains of them. The main temple was grand, fittingly called the Great Temple of Apollo (circa 480 BC). Inside the sanctuary and to the right is the House of the Naxians, a 7th- to 6th-century BC structure with a central colonnade. Dedications to Apollo were stored in this shrine. Outside the north wall a massive rectangular pedestal once supported a colossal statue of Apollo (one of the hands is in Delos's Archaeological Museum, and a piece of a foot is in the British Museum in London). Near the pedestal a bronze palm tree was erected in 417 BC by the Athenians to commemorate the palm tree under which Leto gave birth. According to Plutarch, the palm tree toppled in a storm and brought the statue of Apollo down with it. In The Odyssey, Odysseus compares the Phaeacian princess Nausicaa... READ MORE
Beyond the Sacred Way is one of the most important sites on the island, the Sanctuary of Apollo. Three separate temples originally stood here flanked by altars, monuments, and statues, although not much remains of them. The main temple was grand, fittingly called the Great Temple of Apollo (circa 480 BC). Inside the sanctuary and to the right is the House of the Naxians, a 7th- to 6th-century BC structure with a central colonnade. Dedications to Apollo were stored in this shrine. Outside the north wall a massive rectangular pedestal once supported a colossal statue of Apollo (one of the hands is in Delos's Archaeological Museum, and a piece of a foot is in the British Museum in London). Near the pedestal a bronze palm tree was erected in 417 BC by the Athenians to commemorate the palm tree under which Leto gave birth. According to Plutarch, the palm tree toppled in a storm and brought the statue of Apollo down with it. In The Odyssey, Odysseus compares the Phaeacian princess Nausicaa to a palm he saw on Delos, when the island was wetter.
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