Excavations at Delphi
Academic investigations at the sacred precinct of Delphi in central Greece started in the second half of the 19th century. In 1892 a systematic archaeological excavation began under the direction of Théophile Homolle and the French Archaeological School of Athens. This "Great Excavation" lasted ten years and concluded with the establishment of a museum on the site. The site continued to be excavated and several of the monuments have been restored.
Abandonment of the precinct
Over the course of the 5th and 6th centuries AD, the sanctuary of Apollo was absorbed into the urban Roman settlement that grew on the abandoned precinct, centred around an agora as the commercial hub. The Athena sanctuary was used as a reliable quarry for centuries for building new homes; by contrast, the grounds of the Apollo sanctuary was slowly occupied by houses and the altar at the front of the temple was dismantled. Thermae were built in the northwestern part of the temple grounds and the treasures around the sanctuary were turned into more utilitarian buildings. At least three basilicae, the earliest of which can be dated to no later than AD 450, were eventually constructed at Delphi and fused Christian imagery with elements of Delphi's mythology such as snake worship. The re-use of stones helped maintain ancient motifs—such as the acanthus—in the new town.In the second half of the 6th century, the area of Delphi began to become depopulated with the abandonment of houses, cisterns, and the surrounding countryside, possibly as a consequence of the Justinian plague. The Slavic migrations to the Balkans in the early 7th century caused devastation across Greece and, after a feeble defense, Delphi was finally abandoned.
The rediscovery of Delphi
In the course of the Ottoman period the archaeological site of Delphi was often visited by European travelers. The first person known to have rediscovered Delphi was the antiquarian and classical scholar Cyriacus of Ancona on 21 March 1436. Cyriacus, a native of the maritime republic of Ancona on the Italian Peninsula, spent six days in the mountains in a village by then no longer known as "Delphi" but as Kastri.After Cyriacus, English architects James "Athenian" Stuart and Nicholas Revett visited Delphi in 1751, shortly after the uncovering of Herculaneum and Pompeii. Their investigations uncovered part of an enormous stone wall which supported the temple's terrace. The wall was covered in inscriptions, and its stones were too large to dislodge by hand.
Greece won its independence in 1829 following its defeat of the Ottoman Empire in the Greek War of Independence. The First Hellenic Republic lacked the resources to conduct archaeological investigations or manage the re-location of a village. An earthquake in 1870 left the village derelict, resulting in the opportunity for excavations at Delphi to proceed. In 1880, French archaeologists began excavating the Stoa of the Athenians.
The Great Excavation
Under Charilaos Trikoupis the Greek state began the process of modernization and long-term planning. A close collaboration between France and Greece was achieved, part of which was in the field of cultural heritage and archaeology.Thus, in 1892, under the auspices of the French Archaeological School of Athens, the "Great Excavation" began. Great, not only in length of time, but also in what regarded the extent, the difficulty, the number of people who were mobilized and, of course, the number and importance of the monuments and finds discovered. The diary of this amazing effort has been digitized by the School, offering a glimpse at the fascinating and copious efforts of the archaeological team, which comprised members of various nationalities.
The entire village of Kastri was transferred to the location where now lies the village of Delphi. The technical teams provided the site with a Decauville railway with V skip wagonets, in order to remove the debris, and started demolishing the old houses. After all the preparatory work, the actual excavation started in mid-October 1892, quite late in autumn, and therefore it did not last for long. The next season, however, started in April 1893, revealing large part of the Athenian Treasury as well as the Sibyl rock and the Altar of the Chians. Within the next years came to light most of the buildings along the Sacred Way as well as unique sculptures. One of the most exciting moments was the discovery of the Charioteer, part of the monumental bronze sculpture dedicated by the tyrant of Gela, Polyzalos, in order to commemorate his victory at the Pythian Games. Other highlights of the excavations were the discovery of the Dancers of Delphi as well as of the Roman statue of Antinous and of the pair of archaic kouroi. After revealing the monuments within the sanctuary of Apollo the archaeologists started excavating the stadium and the gymnasium and then moved on to the so-called "Marmaria", i.e. the sanctuary of Athena Pronaia, from where the locals used to pick building material for centuries.
The team of the archaeologists comprised several big names of French scholarship, such as the director Th. Homolle, the architect A. Tournaire, Henri Corvet, P. Perdrizet, and academics such as Th. Reinach and H. Weil, who undertook the study and enhancement of the epigraphic material. However, it was not a solely French, but rather an international team, as it comprised also scholars of other nationalities, notably Greek and German.