Temple of Athena Winnie Foster (Delos)

 On Monday we were in Mykonos! 

Well, our ship was in Mykonos. We spent the day at the archaeological site of Delos. If you're starting to see a theme, you're right! We love exploring ruins, history, and ancient cultures. 

I used Athena in the title because she is sometimes known as the goddess of warfare and wisdom, and when this tabby cat popped out of the ruins like she ran the place I had a whole new understanding of Ms Winnie Foster. If you've met her, and most of you haven't for very specific reasons, you know she is a fierce defender of me and her home, and also has a wry way of looking you up and down like she knows waaaay more than you do. I'm going to try and keep her royal lineage from her, lest her head get that much bigger. 

Delos was settled in the third millennium BC, and also was the birthplace of Artemis and Apollo. I'm just going to leave that right there and let you Google if you're interested. Our brains are full of Greek (and Roman!) mythology, and fact and...fiction? are merging rather seamlessly. 😉

Delos was a religious destination, housing several temples dedicated to Apollo, Artemis, Leto, Zeus and others. It was also a major trade hub, and during its heyday, around 30,000 people lived here. During the Roman rule, it was declared a free port, and no taxes were collected. As a result, a wide variety of people lived and traded here: Syrians, Phoenicians, Romans, Greeks, Egyptians, and many more. 

It lived several lives before being abandoned. I think pirates had something to do with that, but I'm not quite sure anymore. I do know it wasn't a volcano! Because of its relatively long life, there are different kinds of architecture, art and decoration to be studied. 

Only about 10% of the city has been excavated, but even so, they know that it was a place of great wealth and grandeur.  Some doorways still stand of marble, and mosaic floors. Most wall frescoes have disappeared, but a few remain to give clues to what it might have been like. 

Marble doorway.

Mosaic floor.

Same floor, original mosaic from the museum. 

There are marks in the window frame where bars would have been. They assume this was a bank, because the frame is made of marble, showing it as a place of wealth.

One of the few remaining frescoes. It's so similar to something that we saw in Akrotiri!

 

In Akrotiri the excavations have revealed the top floor of some houses, with evidence showing there are possibly three and four stories. In Delos, columns indicate that there were two story houses (the top floors missing), and there are errant staircases to support that theory. 

And like any bustling town, there were shops! You can see in this fish market that there are two doorways. One would have been for the fisherman, and the other to his home. Other shops only have one door, showing that the shop was rented, with the housing not being attached. This fish shop has a marble surface that would have kept fish cool, and also has two fish shaped impressions, and cutting marks. It's amazing both how much is lost in ruins, and how much can be learned from what is left behind.

They even had sunken pots to keep the contents cool!

There was also a theater, evidence of plumbing, and water collection. For an ancient town, it was pretty advanced! 

When Delos was abandoned, there was a lot of pillaging. Even so, there are pieces of architecture scattered as far as the eye can see in every direction. Excavation began here in the late 1800s, and there is so much left to do. 

Mykonos might be an incredibly cute town, but there were several cruise ships in port, and as mentioned, it was H-O-T, so we retreated to our room to gear up for the next adventure!

How cute is this traveler?