Delphi Castalian Spring

Location: Ancient Site

The Castalian Spring in Delphi Greece: The Castalian Spring is found close to the Oracle of Delphi. In ancient times, it was believed that this spring had cleansing waters, thus it could cleanse the souls of the visitors to the popular Temple of Apollo, located just 500 meters from it. The spring itself was located between two rocks, the Phaedriades, and, according to the myth, this is the place where god Apollo killed the dragon, Python, who used to torture Apollo's mother when she was pregnant.

The visitors to the oracle of Delphi and the participants to the Pythian Games used to wash their hair before they enter the sacred place and if they were murderers, they washed all their bodies. This spring, which is believed to be older than the temple of Apollo, initially had seven jets with the head of the lions, but only two remain today. The spring is made with a marble-lined basin and benches on the sides.

The Castalian Spring today is not accessible, unless through a difficult climbing path that needs about an hour walking. Efforts are made over the last years to clean this path and make it easily accessible to visitors.