GREECE

DELPHI ITEAItea is a small costal town located on the north side of the Gulf of Corinth in the central Greek prefecture (state)

of Fokida. The municipal area includes the village of Kirra, which dates back over 4,000 years. Itea is a brand new town, having been established in 1830 AD. When compared to the rest of Greek history 1830 is barely yesterday.

Despite having a permanent population under 10,000, Itea is lively little port and commercial transit point for products and travelers alike. The region is a very popular holiday des-tination for both Greeks and international visitors. The man-ner in which Itea has been laid out makes the waterfront a nice place to take a walk and explore. Though small, the town has worked hard to build an infrastructure that can comfort-ably accommodate guests. Together with the fishing port and quaint cafes and restaurants, the local beaches of Ai Yiannis and Trokantero are justifiably popular.

Though they now seem to blend into one town, neighboring Kirra is as old as Itea is new. Believed to have been founded by seafaring merchants from the island of Crete, there was a time in the distant past that the small town was important and influential. Kirra served as the major transit port for the sacred city of Delphi. The town was well protected with de-fensive fortifications and had extensive harbor facilities that supported a large volume of commercial products as well as the countless number of pilgrims traveling to and from Delphi. It is believed the ancient town was destroyed by a large earth-quake in the mid 700s AD.

Fokida and the other surrounding prefectures have high mountains as well as a beautifully rugged coastline. Snow skiing in the winter is as popular as going to the beach in the summer. The area is just as famous for its delicious sea-food, as it is for its nearly countless number of olive orchards. Additional income to the region comes from minerals and of course tourism. The capital of the Fokida prefecture is the town of Amfissa, just north of Itea.

Today it is vacationers and tourist that come to Itea and Kirra, and as people have for thousand of years, most still end up making the ancient pilgrimage to Delphi.

HISTORY

There are some regions of the world that seem to have been in-volved in continual conflict throughout their long history. Greece in general and the central region of Fokida, ancient Phocis, in particu-lar are certainly good examples. In prehistoric times people known as the Phocians, of undetermined origin, appear to have been the region’s first settlers. This was centuries if not millennia before the southern migration into the region by those who are commonly re-ferred to as the Greeks.

The three major groups that make up the ancient Greeks are the Io-nians, Aeolians and Dorians. As they moved south they absorbed, assimilated or outright displaced the Phocians.

Over the centuries the people of Phocis had little hesitation in shift-ing their military and political allegiance to suit their own best in-terest. That is hardly uncommon, even today. When the Persian Empire invaded Greece in the late 400s BC the Phocians joined other Greek city-states in the mutual defense of the region. In sub-sequent battles the Phocians fought as an ally of the Persians. At times the Phocians were allied with Sparta and at other times allied with the Spartan’s perennial nemesis…Athens. It was all just a mat-ter of convenience and self preservation.

Though no fighting seems to have taken place in Delphi itself, Pho-cis was continually losing or regaining control of the sacred city. The desire to control Delphi had much more to do with economics than religious piety. The leaders of the Phocians and other surrounding city-states were not naive. Those that controlled the people’s ac-cess to the gods in heaven controlled the purse-strings. Delphi and her temples were so tremendously profitable that the Greeks de-cided that the city must be the center of the world. Wars fought over control of Delphi would come to be known as “The Sacred Wars”.

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AREA PlACES OF INTEREST

1 Delphi was an amazing city. The ancient ruins are among some of the most popular and interesting in all of Greece. Delphi was not built for people to inhabit. Rather it was built primarily as a site for the worship of the Greek god Apollo. Among many other things Apollo was the god of prophecy and it would be this aspect of his mythical persona that would lead to Delphi’s influence, power and wealth.

It is unknown when the first religious ceremonies were held on the site. Some archeologists date worship and ritual there as far back as 1500 BC, during the time of the Mycenaeans. Built on the steep slopes of Mount Parnassus, with an incredible view of the surrounding mountain range and the Gulf of Corinth in the distance, modern visitors can easily appreciate why the early Greeks felt that this was a place of mystery and an appropriate

home for their god Apollo.

The name of the city came from a name associated with Apollo, Delphinios, referring to dolphins. The ancient Greeks believed Delphi to be the center of the universe as declared by their su-preme god, Zeus. It is thought that the original temple to Apollo was built in the 700s BC. History reveals that this temple burned in the mid 500s BC and was replaced by a larger and more elab-orate structure. City-states from throughout Greece were eager to donate to the construction costs.

Delphi drew its power and wealth from what was known as the Oracle of Delphi. The only woman allowed in Delphi was the Oracle herself. Men, kings and commoners both great and small, would come to the city to present their petitions and questions to the priestess and await her word from god. The supplicants would participate in a ritual washing followed by the payment of a fee and an animal sacrifice in the temple of Apollo. The ques-tion would then be presented to the Oracle who would fall into a trance and mumble and groan a response from the deity that could only be interpreted by a high priest. The question could be

They would lead to the eventual conquest of the region and most of Greece by King Philip II of Macedonia in 338 BC.

Long after the passing of King Philip and his son Alexander the Great the Greek city-states were still going at each other. By 145 BC they were all so exhausted from continually fighting among themselves that the entire country was ripe for the picking. The Legions of the Roman Empire were more than willing to march in and take it all and that is exactly what they did. The Romans would go on to plunder Delphi’s treasures and much of its statu-ary but allowed worship to continue.

With the spread of Christianity, the city of Delphi would fall into

decline. In 393 AD Byzantine Emperor Theodosius basically closed down the pagan city. His successor and the Roman Pope would have another idea. Following the collapse of the Western Roman Empire the Germanic Goths would be used to sweep through the Greece. They would leave nothing but destruction and chaos in their wake. Greece would continue under the rule of Constantinople.

In 1453 the Ottoman Turks conquered the Byzantine Empire and took control of Greece. Finally the Greeks rose up in violent re-volt after 400 years of Turkish domination and won their indepen-dence from the Ottoman Empire in 1821.

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SHORE ExCuRSIONS

To make the most of your visit to Itea and surrounding areas we suggest you take one of the organized Shore Excursions. For Information concerning tour content and pricing, consult azamaraclubcruises.com or contact the onboard Shore Ex-cursion Desk. When going ashore, guests are advised to take with them only the items they need and to secure any valu-ables.

lOCAl CuSTOmS

Bargaining: Prices are usually set.

Tipping: Cafes and restaurants add an automatic 15% service charge. It is customary to tip a couple extra euros however.

lOCAl CuISINE AND DRINk SPECIAlTIES

The foundation of Greek cooking is their wonderful olive oil. Some of the most popular dishes include: Tzatziki, a dip-ping mixture made by combining Greek yoghurt, cucumber, chopped garlic, salt and pepper and fresh chopped mint. Dolmades are a mixture of rice, vegetables, golden raisins and olive oil wrapped with grape leaves and steamed. Fa-solada is a traditional bean soup adding carrots, tomatoes, celery and olive oil. Yemista is peppers stuffed with a mixture of vegetables, rice, herbs and olive oil then baked. Giouvetsi is a combination of lamb and orzo (pasta) baked in an earth-enware pot. Gyros are pita bread stuffed with roasted meat, covered with tzatziki and sprinkled with chopped tomatoes and onions. Baklava is the always popular dessert that uses a mixture of honey, cloves, nuts and syrup wrapped in phyllo dough and baked till golden brown.

To drink, perhaps sample the famous Greek ouzo.

SHOPPING

Most of the shops will be found on Akti Posidonos Street, Itea’s main street.

A Value Added Tax (VAT), is almost always added to most purchases. Visitors from outside the European Union who spend over a certain amount may be entitled to reclaim some or all of the tax paid, however, regulations and conditions gov-erning the refund of VAT are subject to change, and RCCL cannot guarantee the cooperation of local authorities.

lOCAl CuRRENCY

The unit of currency in this port is the euro. There are 8 euro coins with a common face. On the reverse, each member state contributes a design. There are 7 euro notes. All euro coins and notes are legal tender in member states.

POST OFFICE AND TElEPHONE FACIlITIES

There is a Post Office on Akti Posidonos Street, Itea’s main street.

A coin or telephone card may be required to dial these access numbers:

AT&T: 00.800.1311MCI: 00.800.1211

as innocent as a matter of the heart or as important as to whether a king or city should go to war. The words of the Oracle…the words of god…were held in extremely high regard. When the Romans conquered Greece, questions to the Oracle regarding political mat-ters of state were forbidden. Inquiries of a private nature were the only ones allowed to be asked. Roman Emperors and their Senate were not about to allow some old woman sitting on a mountain in Greece to have a hand in deciding the affairs of the empire.

In the mid 300s AD, with the spread of Christianity, the Oracle said that the voice of Apollo would soon be silenced in Delphi. With Greece now under the control of the Byzantine Empire, in 393 AD Emperor Theodosius, a Christian and defender of the Roman Cath-olic Pope had the pagan temples of Delphi closed. Two years later his successor, Emperor Flavius Arcadius, would go even further. In 395 AD, with the blessing of Pope Siricius in Rome, Emperor Arcadius unleashed Germanic Goths upon Greece with orders to destroy all pagan sites and temples. Delphi was destroyed, along with many other cities throughout Greece. The prediction of the Oracle proved accurate.

2 The monastery of Osios loukas is located on the side of Mount Helicon near the town of Distomo east of Itea. The walled monastery was founded by St. Loucas Stereiotis in the mid 900s AD. It is his final resting place. Built in the classic Byzantine architectural style the church has many stun-ning frescos that date back 1,000 years. The monastery is included on the list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites.

3 Galaxidi is a coastal town to the south of Itea. Built on the site of an ancient Greek town known as Oianthi, today Galaxidi is a popular beach resort. The town has some interesting build-ings, a couple of good yet small museums and numerous cafes and restaurants. But most visitors come here to relax on the beautiful beach and swim in the clear blue water.

4 Agii Pantes is a small resort town west along the coastal road from Galaxidi. Set among olive groves and facing the Gulf of Corinth this quaint village has a nice beach, a small fishing harbor and a few little cafes that serve up the freshly caught seafood.

5 Erateini is the next resort town continuing west along the coastal road. It is very popular with Greeks as well as inter-national visitors. The beach goes from one end of the town to the other. There are plenty of water sports and activities as well as numerous little cafes serving fresh local dishes.

TRANSPORTATION

Car Rental - EU driving licenses are accepted. All other visitors may be required to show an International Driving License.

Taxis are metered and have fixed rates that should be posted. They are reasonably priced especiall when compared to many other EU countries.

uSEFul WORDS AND PHRASES

The Greek translation used here is spelled phonetically.

Hello - Yia souHow are you? - Ti kanisI’m fine - Ime kalaPlease - ParakaloThank you - EfharistoYes - NeNo - OhiGood-bye - Yia sou

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This information has been compiled for the convenience of our guests and is intended solely for that purpose. While we work to ensure that the information contained herein is correct, we cannot accept respon-sibility for any changes that may have taken place since printing.

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