The

palaestra A palaestra ( or ; also (chiefly British) palestra; grc-gre, παλαίστρα) was any site of an ancient Greek wrestling school. Events requiring little space, such as boxing and wrestling, took place there. Palaestrae functioned both indep ...

at Delphi is part of a gymnasium at the

sanctuary A sanctuary, in its original meaning, is a sacred place, such as a shrine. By the use of such places as a haven, by extension the term has come to be used for any place of safety. This secondary use can be categorized into human sanctuary, a saf ...

. It is the oldest existing gymnasium from the Greek world, dating to the second half of the fourth century B.C. It was built on two terraces, with the palaestra and baths on the lower terrace. The frequent

earthquakes An earthquake (also known as a quake, tremor or temblor) is the shaking of the surface of the Earth resulting from a sudden release of energy in the Earth's lithosphere that creates seismic waves. Earthquakes can range in intensity, from ...

and

landslides Landslides, also known as landslips, are several forms of mass wasting that may include a wide range of ground movements, such as rockfalls, deep-seated slope failures, mudflows, and debris flows. Landslides occur in a variety of environments, ...

Delphi Delphi (; ), in legend previously called Pytho (Πυθώ), in ancient times was a sacred precinct that served as the seat of Pythia, the major oracle who was consulted about important decisions throughout the ancient classical world. The oracle ...

have damaged the palaestra the most seriously of all of the gymnasium areas. The palaestra is small, measuring thirty-two metres square. The central court is 14 metres square with an Ionic

peristyle In ancient Greek and Roman architecture, a peristyle (; from Greek ) is a continuous porch formed by a row of columns surrounding the perimeter of a building or a courtyard. Tetrastoön ( grc, τετράστῳον or τετράστοον, lit=fou ...

in blue

limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...

. The eastern wall of the palaestra is formed by the retaining wall for the terrace above. Several rooms open onto the north and west sides of the court. There are three rooms of identical dimensions (8 X 5.80 meters) along the north side of the palaestra. The middle of the three rooms was faced with two columns ''in antis'' and divided by a wall pierced with a door. Along the west side of the building there are also three rooms. The large room in the northwest corner measures 11 by 6.80 metres. Moving south, the two other rooms measure 7 by 10.70 and 11.50 by 10.70 meters, respectively. For the most part, the uses of these rooms cannot be determined. Inscriptions have been found indicating that among these rooms were an ''apodyterion'' (undressing room) and two ''sphairisteria'' (ball play courts or rooms). The other rooms would certainly have included an ''elaiothesion'' (oiling room) and ''konisterion'' (dusting room), as

dust Dust is made of fine particles of solid matter. On Earth, it generally consists of particles in the atmosphere that come from various sources such as soil lifted by wind (an aeolian process), volcanic eruptions, and pollution. Dust in homes ...

(i.e. powder in the form of fine sand) and

oil An oil is any nonpolar chemical substance that is composed primarily of hydrocarbons and is hydrophobic (does not mix with water) & lipophilic (mixes with other oils). Oils are usually flammable and surface active. Most oils are unsaturated ...

were essential parts of the athletic regime (the wrestlers anointed themselves with oil and sprinkled themselves with fine sand). The palaestra itself did not include any bathing rooms because a bathing facility was built directly to the north along the same terrace. A corridor in the north side of the palaestra leads to the baths. The bathhouse or ''loutrón'' had eleven animal head spouts, through which water flowed from a nearby spring into ten basins and a large plunge bath 9.70 metres in diameter and 1.904 metres deep.

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{{coord, 38.48125, 22.50587, format=dms, type:landmark_region:GR, display=title Ancient Greek buildings and structures in Delphi

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