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 Location |
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Delos is the smallest island of the Cyclades, being 1 square mile in size, located near Mykonos.
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It is virtually uninhabited, but attracts many tourists for its excavations.
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 History |
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According to mythology, Leto gave birth to Apollo and Artemis on Delos, and the island was particularly sacred to Apollo.
Delos was of great commercial and political importance. It rose in importance, as Greece did, around 480BC. It became the center of the Delian league, keeping its treasury in the Temple of Apollo, making it a wealthy location (until it was moved to Athens in 454BC). They passed several decrees, including that no-one could be born or die on the island. If a woman became pregnant, she was quickly shipped off to a neighboring island, as anyone who became ill. Delos became so immensely wealthy that the Romans kept it as a free port when they came into power. It also had a flourishing slave market during the 2nd century BC. Delos finally collapsed in 88BC, when it was sacked by Mithridates of Pontus, never recovered, and was then abandoned
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 Religion |
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This topic is not island-specific. It applies to the nation of Greece.
Orthodox Christianity is the recognized dominant religion of Greece and it is legally protected by the state. This has caused legal discrimination against non-Orthodox Churches, and although the constitution of 1975 removed the power of most of the old laws against Protestants, problems still exist today. There is a lot of fear towards anything outside of the Orthodox Church, especially on the islands. However, repeated rulings of the European Court of Justice in favour of religious minorities in cases of discrimination have led to a relative increase of the freedoms that these religious minorities now enjoy.
Ancient Gods:
Apollo and Dionysus were worshipped there. There also exists a theater devoted to the worship of Syrian gods, before Poseidon, and the Egyptian god, Serapis
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 Miscellaneous |
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Places of interest one should visit include:
* Archaelogical Museum - home of marble lions that once guarded the sacred lake (supposed birthplace of Apollo)
* There are ruins everywhere - remains of temples, homes, and monuments, residential areas intact, and streets still outlined, many with sewers running underneath
* House of Masks, featuring a mosaic of Dionysus riding a panther
* Climb to the top of Mt Kynthos (370 ft) - fantastic view of neighboring islands and complete view of Delos
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 Resources |
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www.greektravel.com
www.in2greece.com
www.mrfs.net
http://whc.unesco.org/sites/530.htm
http://whc.unesco.org/sites/530.htm
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