Delphi & Hosios Loukas Monastery Full Day Tour From Athens

Livadeia is a town in central Greece. It is the capital of the Boeotia regional district.The area around Livadeia is mountainous, with farming activities mainly confined to the valleys. The area has traditionally been associated with the production and processing of cotton and tobacco, as well as the cultivation of cereal crops and the raising of livestock. The city also known for having participated in the Trojan War in allegiance with Mycenae.

On your way up to the slopes of Mt. Parnassos and the archaeological site of Delphi, you'll come across the village of Distomo and Styri. Located about 13 km before the town of Arachova, this area is home to one of the most impressive monuments in the Mediterranean Sea: the monastery of Hosios Loukas. In a landscape untouched by time, you will see two magnificent Byzantine churches adorned with frescoes and mosaics featuring a characteristic golden background from the 10th - 11th century AD. The monastery's Byzantine splendour, still functioning today, was recently revealed through a successful restoration project. Founded around the mid - 10th century AD by the monk Loukas from Styri, the monastery showcases his relics in the Katholicon (main church). These relics were stolen by the Crusaders in the 13th century AD and kept in the Vatican for centuries before being returned.

Ancient Greeks believed that Delphi was the Navel of the Earth, a place seen as a spiritual focal point for all Greeks; it included many sanctuaries and the most prestigious oracle in all of ancient Greece. This is where Pythia, the high priestess, uttered the divine advice of god Apollo to mortals who travelled from across the world to seek a prophecy. Apart from Greeks, the Oracle was visited also by foreign leaders and dignitaries who were anxious to know the will of Apollo on important state affairs. According to mythology, it is here that the two eagles sent out by Zeus from the ends of the universe to find the navel of the world met. The sanctuary of Delphi, set within a most spectacular landscape, was for many centuries the cultural and religious centre and symbol of unity for the Hellenic world.

The Archaeological Museum of Delphi is one of the most visited museums around Greece. It was founded in 1903 and it is operated by the Greek Ministry of Culture.The museum hosts important findings, most of which were discovered at the area of the sanctuary of Delphi. The exhibits are arranged in fourteen rooms in chronological order. The most ancient objects are displayed in the first two rooms and date back to the late Geometric and early Archaic periods. Some of the museum’s exhibits include the Charioteer of Delphi, the frieze of the Siphnian Treasury, the Sphinx of Naxos, chryselephantine sculptures, inscriptions, bronze figurines and bronze votive offerings.

The archaic temple of Apollo was constructed in 510 B.C. with money raised by many Greek cities under the auspices of the Alcmaeonids of Athens. When this temple was destroyed by an earthquake in 373 B.C., the Greek cities collected money again and built the extant temple, which was accomplished in ca 330 B.C. It was a Doric peripteral temple with a vestibule and an opisthodomos distyle in antis. In the cella was situated the statue of the god and the omphalos (navel of the earth), whereas in the vestibule were inscribed the Delphic maxims of the seven wise men of Ancient Greece. According to the fable the first temple of Apollo was a hut made of laurel tree branches, the second one was made of wax and bees’ feathers, the third one made of bronze and the fourth one (apparently the only one which actually existed) was made of poros stone. This temple was destroyed around the middle of the 6th century B.C.

Arachova is a mountainous village nestling picturesquely at the foot of Mt. Parnassos in Viotia, Southern Greece. It is the most cosmopolitan winter destination in Greece, a great favourite for passionate ski lovers and celebrities, or just first-time visitors who wish to relax in a dreamy mountainous setting with modern tourism facilities