Delphi's Sacred Way Stood The Marmaria

Outside the entire layout, the structures in it, and even the Sacred Way stood the Marmaria (Partida). This small sacred terrace was one of the first archeological pieces to the puzzle of Delphi to be discovered. It would go on to help yield one the earliest pieces of evidence of occupation. When the French first began their evacuations their findings showed the use of materials from the Bronze Age. Those materials included copper and tin axes, daggers, and more intricately woven baskets (“Bronze Age Materials” 1). Not only was this temple well known by the citizens of Greece, but was viewed as a very important part to the site in its own way. The temple was destroyed by a rock slide, the very same one that once caused the Persians to
have to reroute and not get a chance to take over control of the Oracle. Leading many to believe that the Goddess Athena allowed the Oracle to sacrifice the temple for the good of Greece (“Athena” 1). An Athena temple was also located in Delphi and also had many treasures on its own terrace. Up until 1891, the village of Kastri used them as homes until archeologists needed the opportunity to analyze remains underneath. More than just the archeological digs gave us a look into Apollo and his scared city.
Travel writers that had the opportunity jump onto the shores of the city found it hard to publish because they were swept up by the amazing experiences. One travel writer, known as Pausanias, traveled throughout Greece in the 2nd century AD and noted Delphi’s monuments while he was there. James Frazier, both a classicist and anthropologist, said: “…without him the ruins of Greece would be a labyrinth without a clue, a riddle without and answer” (“Delphi. The Sanctuary” 1). Pausanias published many books about ancient Greece, but the most popular was his tenth Book, which held his account on Delphi. His descriptions were not vague, but did come off as somewhat crude. Pausanias gave it life by generating as much imagery as possible in his reader’s minds by describing the sloping ground the city sat upon, statues such as the bronze bull dedicated to Poseidon, and how he drank from the very waters of the Castalia Springs. Which he described as extremely sweet to drink and immensely satisfying to bathe
in. The excavations and inscriptions did prove fruitful for a city that had been through so much.
In order to best preserve each discovery, it was determined in 1903 the use of a museum would help accommodate the increasing number of visitors (Marquand). Especially since at that point there would be little resistance if a tourist felt like breaking off a chunk of a statue while walking along. The first museum built in that same year was somewhat small and was intended to symbolize the end of the first great archeological excavations by the French. Its chronological attitude had its exhibits placed in “context.” The ongoing excavations did continue to produce more and more findings though, specifically as archeologists continued to trace the Sacred Way in the 1930’s (Partida). This prompted the need to build a second museum, so from 1935-1939, the next museum was built and its collections reorganized by French archeologist Pierre de la Coste-Masselière. Pierre was a well known archeologist amongst the community of those who specialized in archaic Greek art and was a member of the French School of Athens. Who already had valuable information on Delphi from being the primary goers of the original excavations. He went on to put many of the artifacts in chronological order just as before and the new size of the museum allowed for more of a spacious look amongst the larger
pieces. As fate would have it, Delphi unfortunately found itself in the midst of another war. As World War 2 broke out the museum made the decision to put many of the artifacts into storage. By digging large pits in front the museum and actually reutilizing ancient tombs made by the Romans to keep them from harm (Partida). With the hope that those tombs would not end up being their final resting places. Many of the more valuable considered artifacts were sent to Athens, quite literally to be stored in a bank until everything had calmed down. The Greek Civil War also occurring didn’t make it any easier to get everything done and ready to go. The city wound up preserving again with the museum finally reopening in 1952. The “insufficiency,” most likely due to the wars, in properly redisplaying the artifacts would call for another changing of the museum’s architecture altogether.