Mykonos is the irrefutable party island of Greece. This is however, not the reason why we flew over the Indian Ocean and ferried across the Aegean Sea from Santorini to arrive at Mykonos. Approximately 3km from Mykonos lies the birth place of Apollo, Delos. Delos is one of Greece’s most important archaeological sites and our main reason for coming to Mykonos.
Under the hot blistering summer sun, seated on the deck of the Traditional Greek Caique, I caught the first glimpse of Delos. Almost as if time stood still for this desolate island in the last few centuries, the small rocky island looked barren except for numerous stone structures from a distance away.
Delos was a sacred place in the hearts of ancient Greeks as Apollo (God of Light, Harmony and Balance) and Artemis (Goddess of Moon), two of Greece's most important Deities, were born here.
The rise and fall of the Apollonian sanctuary for the next few centuries could be traced from the peak of its glory during the 9th century BCE to its subsequent abandonment and decline from 69 BCE. In its glorious days, Greeks from all over used to gather here to worship Apollo and Artemis. The island has seen countless invasions, bloodshed and pirates attacks due to its political reputation and at one point, lauded as the greatest commercial centre of the whole world.
We stepped off the Caique onto a small peninsula, sandwiched between the Sacred Harbour and the commercial ports, ready to explore this excavation site.
We headed left to first check out the “Oikos of the Naxians” and the huge marble base of a colossal statue of Apollo, dedicated by the Naxians around 600 BCE. Without a handheld guide, the ignorant me would not have known what I was looking at. With the guide, a short distance away from the statue of Apollo was the “Keraton”, the most ancient and highly revered altar built by Apollo himself.
Before long, I was standing face to face (finally) with the eminent “Naxian Lions”. These 12 (could be 16) stone lions were dedicated by the Naxians in the 7th century in honour of Apollo. These are replicas of the original Naxos Lions, I was now very excited to see the original lions in the museum uphill.
These white marbled lions face east towards the Sacred Lake of Delos where Greek scholars believed to be the birthplace of Apollo and Artemis. There was little or no shade on the island of Delos hence a singular palm tree standing next to the lake was a stark contrast to the rest of the landscape. I later learnt that it was known as “Leto’s Palm” (a symbolic tree) to mark the birth place of the holy twins.
Under the merciless sun, we were happy to seek refuge at the museum and a chance to see the artefacts (including the Naxos lions!) up close. It was wonderful that there were no barricades or stanchions between visitors and the artefacts so you can really admire and examine each detail.
To the far right of the museum, like the stairway to heaven, one could walk up to the top of the hill to reach the “Sanctuary of Zeus and Athena”. It offered panoramic view of the Cycladic islands around Delos.
A modern path out of the museum led us down to the remnants of luxurious houses, richly decorated with frescoes and intricate mosaic floors. We were absolutely bowled over by mosaic tiled floors we saw in the “House with the Dolphins” and “House with the Masks”.
We rounded up the visit exploring the oldest residential quarters of the ancient city and appreciating the “Theatre” with its majestic cistern.
It was close to sunset at this point of our visit. The soft glow of the summer sun illuminated these stone structures restoring them back to their former glory. This mystics island of Delos has definitely stirred our hearts as we took a final glance back at this divine island of Delos before heading back to modern civilisation.
Back in Mykonos at the picturesque Little Venice, we watched the sunset with cocktails in our hands as the island started coming to life with merry patrons grooving to the rhythm of vibrant party music. Within an hour, we have spanned between 2 islands, worlds apart.
