METEORA, GREECE: CLIFFTOP SANCTUARIES IN THE CLOUDS - Continuing our journey northward, we reached the Plain of Thessaly and encountered massive granite pinnacles. At the top were monasteries, the earliest built in the 14th century by monks seeking refuge from Turkish pirates. This is the Monastery of the Holy Trinity.

We explore the land of Plato, Socrates, and Zorba.

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1000places > DELPHI, GREECE - Near the spot where the Oracle delivered her pronouncements we gathered for a group photo - believing we might also benefit from whatever divine powers might still be lingering at the site. Mary and Bob Schmidt (on the left) are the good friends who accompanied us.

1000places > DELPHI, GREECE - When visitors to Delphi were not consulting the Oracle, they might have gathered in this theater with its spectacular view of the sanctuary and the valley below. Built in the 4th century B.C., it accommodated 5,000 spectators.

1000places > DELPHI, GREECE - At the very top of the hillside overlooking the Delphi sanctuary are the ruins of a stadium. Here the second-most important sporting event was held in Greece - the Pythian Games (the Olympics were, of course, the most significant). Among the sports were chariot races that would race around the narrow oval infield.

1000places > DELPHI, GREECE - Jeanne could hardly resist taking a lap or two, sprinting on the same ground that Greek athletes trod 3,000 years ago.

1000places > DELPHI, GREECE - In the valley below the main Delphi sanctuary there was another temple, this one dedicated to the goddess Athena. The purpose of its most prominent feature - the circular tholos - remains a mystery.

1000places > DELPHI, GREECE - Inside the museum is the Omphalos, a sacred stone once housed inside the Temple of Apollo. Legend says this stone signified that Delphi was the center of the known world, so determined when two eagles released by Zeus in opposite directions flew around the globe and crossed directly over it. A more recent theory is that the Omphalos was positioned over a natural fissure beneath the temple and served to channel the hallucinogenic vapors (probably ethylene) into the Oracle's chamber.

1000places > METEORA, GREECE: CLIFFTOP SANCTUARIES IN THE CLOUDS - Continuing our journey northward, we reached the Plain of Thessaly and encountered massive granite pinnacles. At the top were monasteries, the earliest built in the 14th century by monks seeking refuge from Turkish pirates. This is the Monastery of the Holy Trinity.

METEORA, GREECE: CLIFFTOP SANCTUARIES IN THE CLOUDS - Continuing our journey northward, we reached the Plain of Thessaly and encountered massive granite pinnacles. At the top were monasteries, the earliest built in the 14th century by monks seeking refuge from Turkish pirates. This is the Monastery of the Holy Trinity.