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Photos by the art historian Luca Mozzati: explanations and attributions highly accurate.
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Foto eseguite da uno storico dell'arte con didascalie altamente accurate. Presenti: Grecia, Rodi, Creta, Giordania
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greece, delphi, the stadium - greece, delphi, the n rows of seats of the stadium from w it was built in the 5th c. b.c. and it was remodeled several times during the centuries. its present form was acquired in the 2nd c. a.d. when herodus atticus financed the stone seating and the arched entrance. its stone seats could sit around 6500 spectators, and it was used extensively during the pythian and panhellenic games for athletic events and for music festivals. its track is 177.55 m long (about 550 ft.), and 25.50 m wide. during the mycenaean period, the female deity of earth was worshipped in the small settlement of delphi. the development of the sanctuary and oracle though, began in the 8th century b.c. with the establishment of the cult of apollo. under the protection and administration of the amphictyony, the sanctuary continued to be autonomous after the first sacred war and, as a result, increased its panhellenic religious and political influence. the pythian games were re-organized, the sanctuary was enlarged and it was enriched with nice buildings, statues, and other offerings. in the 3rd century b.c. it came under the domination of the aetolians and later, in 191 b.c., was conquered by the romans. during the roman occupation the site was sometimes plundered but was also favoured by some of the emperors. with the spread of christianity, the sanctuary lost its religious meaning and was permanently closed down with a decree of emperor theodosius the great. the ruins of delphi were uncovered by the systematic excavations of the french archaeological school, which began in 1893. the village of kastri, which had occupied the area of the sanctuary since medieval times, was moved to its present position. after the removal of huge quantities of earth that had been accumulated with the landslides, the remains of two sanctuaries, dedicated to apollo and athena pronaea, were finally uncovered. the excavations revealed more than five thousands inscriptions of all kinds, statues, several miniature objects, architectural decorative pieces, all exquisite works of art, representing the major cities of greek antiquity. outside the area of the sanctuary, the stadium, the gymnasium, the settlement of delphi and its cemeteries have also been excavated.

423036 - greece, delphi, the stadium

greece, mycenae, the city wall and the royal palace - greece, mycenae, the city wall and the royal palace from south about 1700-1100 bce mycenae 'rich in gold', the kingdom of mythical agamemnon, first sung by homer in his epics, is the most important and richest palatial centre of the late bronze age in greece. its name was given to one of the greatest civilizations of greek prehistory, the mycenaean civilization, while the myths related to its history have inspired poets and writers over many centuries, from the homeric epics and the great tragedies of the classical period to contemporary literary and artistic creation. perseus, son of zeus and dana?, daughter of akrisios, king of argos and descendant of danaos, is traditionally considered as its mythical founder. pausanias (2, 16, 3) reports that perseus named the new city mycenae after the pommel (mykes) of his sword, which fell there, or after the perseia spring, discovered there under the root of a mushroom (mykes). according to the myth, perseus's descendants reigned at mycenae for three generations. after the last of them, eurystheas, died childless, the mycenaeans chose atreus, son of pelops, father of agamemnon and menelaos, as their king. mycenae was founded between two tall conical hills, profitis ilias (805 m.) and sara (660 m.), on a low plateau dominating the argive plain and controlling both the land and sea routes. the site was first occupied in the seventh millennium bc (neolithic period). very little remains of this early settlement because of continuous re-occupation up until the historical period. most of the monuments visible today were erected in the late bronze age, between 1350 and 1200 bc, when the site was at its peak. in the early second millennium bc a small settlement existed on the hill and a cemetery with simple burials on its southwest slope. grave circle b, a stone-built funerary enclosure containing monumental graves with rich grave gifts, indicates that the first families of rulers and aristocrats appeared at mycenae at approximately 1700 bc. this social structure developed further in the early mycenaean period, c. 1600 bc, when a large central building, a second funerary enclosure (grave circle a) and the first tholos tombs were erected on the hill. the finds from these monuments show that the powerful mycenaean rulers participated in a complex network of commercial exchange with other parts of the mediterranean. the construction of the palace and fortification wall currently visible began c. 1350 bc (late helladic IIIa2). the latter saw three construction phases, the first wall being built of cyclopean masonry. a new wall was erected to the west and south of the early one approximately one hundred years later (late helladic IIIb1), together with the lion gate, the citadel's monumental entrance, and its bastion. included in the newly fortified area were the city's religious centre and grave circle a, which was refurbished and used for ancestral cults. the famous tholos tomb known as the 'treasury of atreus', with its gigantic lintels and tall beehive vault, was probably built during the same period. at approximately 1200 bc, in the late helladic IIIb-c period, following a large destruction probably caused by an earthquake, the walls were extended to the northeast so as to include the subterranean well. successive destructions and fires led to the site's final abandonment c. 1100 bc. after the collapse of the palatial system and of the 'mycenaean koine', the hill was sparsely inhabited until the classical period. meanwhile, several local cults of heroes developed in the area, fuelled by mycenae's fame, which the homeric poems spread throughout greece. a temple dedicated to hera or athena was erected on the top of the hill in the archaic period. in 468 bc, after the persian wars, in which mycenae took part, the town was conquered by argos and had part of its fortification wall destroyed. in the hhellenistic period, the argives founded a 'village' on the hill, repaired the prehistoric walls and the archaic temple, and erected a small theatre over the dromos of the tholos tomb of clytaemnestra. the town was abandoned in subsequent centuries and was already in ruins when pausanias visited it in the second century ad.

424265 - greece, mycenae, the city wall and the royal palace

Rhodes, Temple of Apollo Pythian - Greece Rhodes Doric temple of Apollo Pythian on the greek Acropolis 4th century BCE, restored 1916-19

427061 - Rhodes, Temple of Apollo Pythian