Delphi occupies a steep landscape on Mount Parnassus, between the towering Phaidriades rocks and above the Gulf of Corinth. Its setting is not incidental to the ancient sanctuary: terraces, temples and treasuries were fitted into a slope that framed the approach and the view. UNESCO describes Delphi as a pan-Hellenic sanctuary where the oracle of Apollo spoke and where the omphalos, or “navel of the world,” was believed to stand. The archaeological site entered the World Heritage List in 1987.
The sanctuary and oracle developed from the eighth century BC, according to UNESCO, and Delphi’s religious and political influence expanded in the sixth century BC. Pilgrims came from across the Greek world and farther afield to consult the Pythia, Apollo’s priestess. Stories about the world’s centre and the meeting of Zeus’s eagles belong to ancient myth; the site’s historical importance is also visible in the buildings and offerings dedicated by cities and rulers seeking divine favor.