G08 



THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE 



Photograph from Alexander Wilbourne Weddell 



THE GYMNASIUM FROM THE TEMPLE OP APOLLO AT DELPHI 



Delphi was the center of the cult of Apollo. The grandeur of the scenery, the ice-cold 

 springs, the mysterious air currents from the gorges, from earliest times filled the passer-by 

 with awe. In ancient days the speech of the Oracle had far-reaching effects, and the cult of 

 the god did not cease until the close of the fourth century of our era, when the Byzantine 

 Emperor Theodoric put an end to it by the sword. We are looking down from the temple of 

 the god to the Gymnasium, set in the midst of olive trees. The bathing pool is plainly visible. 



About 60,000 people can be accommo- 

 dated in entire comfort in the inclosure. 

 However, there is but one exit — through 

 the open portion of the ellipse — in which 

 respect it differs from our "bowls" and 

 stadia. But what is lost in the Athenian 

 stadium from the practical standpoint is 

 more than compensated for by the gain 

 in beauty through the absence of the dis- 



figuring passages seen in the modern 

 American structures. 



In the reign of Hadrian wild-beast 

 hunts took place frequently in the sta- 

 dium, and it is thought that the rock-like 

 tunnel on the left-hand side, opposite the 

 entrance, was used to introduce the ani- 

 mals into the arena. In 1906 the athletes 

 made use of this tunnel. 



