The Semeli Hotel Magazine - www.semelihotel.gr Semeli The Hotel - Magazine | Page 60

C
yclades are thus named because they form a
circle at the epicenter of which lies Delos.
Extending in 3,4 square km, it is a tiny, dry and
barren island, offering no particular advantages for hab-
itation. Its insignificance is though precisely what made
it sacred. In fact a major, very famous, cosmopolitan,
religious and commercial center of antiquity. According
to myth, Leto who was trying to escape from the wrath
of jealous Hera, thought she would be safe in incon-
spicuous Delos. So she sought sanctuary here and gave
birth to her children Apollo and Artemis. This little, deso-
late island hence became Apollo’s sanctuary, attracting
pilgrims from all over Greece. Delos bears traces of the
succeeding civilizations in the Aegean world, from the
3rd millennium BC to the palaeochristian era.
According to Thucydides, Carians were the first who
discovered Delos, while during the 16th century it was
inhabited by Mycenaeans and later by Ionians, who
made it their religious center. The ancient pilgrimage
center of Apollo reached its highest peak after the Per-
sian wars, when the First Delian League was established
and it was deemed that the official meeting place as
well as the treasury of the city-states would be held
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