Delphi

The center of the complex at Delphi was the temple to Apollo.  In the temple was an opening in the ground, from which came fumes that gave the Priestess or Pythia her prophetic visions.  (We refer to The Oracle as a person, but in Greece it is understood as the whole temple complex).  People would travel from all over Greece to make offerings at the temple and receive the Priestess' insights. There were 'Treasure houses' from each Greek city in the complex where they would store their special offerings.   The Priestess would drink from the local Castalian spring with holy powers, and eat laurel leaves.  Just as Apollo's throne was a calderon on a tripod, the Priestess also sat in a calderon within the temple.  The Priestess spoke in the voice of Apollo (gibberish not understood by humans), and her words were interpreted by her priests.

Artistic recreation: The large pillared building is the temple, 

below it were the treasure houses for each city and below that was a market.

 A tripod similar to the one the Priestess may have sat in.

There were not any buildings standing on the site, except one treasure house that had been reconstructed from the ruins.  A few of the temple pillars, and its foundation were still visible, and the walls and floors of other buildings in the complex.

The site is located halfway up a hill in a beautiful mountain valley.  When we arrived, there were rain clouds moving down the slopes of the mountains and coming down the valley toward us (fortunately we only got sprinkles).

After visiting the ruins, we went to the museum where some of the statues and artifacts were preserved.

  

This is the remains of a silver bull.  A wooden structure was completely covered with silver plating.