This 2010 BBC documentary explains the ancient site of Delphi, which was a location that was sacred to the Greeks, where people of all social classes made pilgrimages to bring offerings and ask questions of its Oracles.

Following are points from the documentary:

— Delphi was a site where people from all over the ancient world made religious pilgrimages, where even kings and ambassadors from large cities and empires traveled to the location to make offerings and to ask its oracles for advice about important decisions.  The site was a few days journey inland from the rest of Greece.

— The site was lost to history until about a century ago.  Scholars knew that it existed, but it was buried and its exact location was not known.

— In 1892, the French won the rights to excavate the site, but people were actually living on top of the location at the time.  The people then learned about the international interest in the site and caused problems because they wanted to be compensated more than they were offered, leading to them being forcibly moved by the military.

— Today they site has become an international destination.

— At its height, the sanctuary at Delphi covered more than a hundred acres, and the temple was surrounded by hundreds of buildings, treasure houses, porticos, and statues; all of them being built by grateful visitors.

— The visitors came to ask the Oracles (who were female priestesses) what the God Apollo thought.

— Even long before the time of Delphi, people were bringing offerings to a nearby cave called “Carrisian” starting at around 7,000 years ago.  Many objects were found in the cave such a perfume jars, jewelry, and dice.

— Delphi began as a Greek settlement that was a prosperous town, but it initially did not have religious significance.  Starting at around 800 BC, a reputation about a local oracle at the town began to spread, and it began to attract interest from far away.  Its reputation as being such a destination then lasted for the next 1,000 years.

— People initially brought relatively small offerings of bronze statues, but eventually the offerings become very large and extravagant.

— The oracles were notoriously ambiguous, where it was often possible to interpret them in conflicting ways.

— Athletic competitions were also held at the location that were similar to the Olympic games.

— People carved text of dedications into the walls in the area, which can still be read.

— Large marble building with statues were eventually built as offerings, known as treasure houses, which often had the appearance of mausoleums.

— In 168 BC, Rome took over, which meant the end of the independence of Greece.  In the 4th century AD, the Roman emperor Constantine adopted Christianity, and soon the use of divination for political decisions was banned, followed by worship of the Grecian Gods being completely banned, resulting in the end of the use of Delphi.