Delos
Delos(see map: Greece and the Aegean world), a small Aegean island (3 sq. km.: 1.2 sq. mi.) between Myconos and Rheneia, regarded in antiquity as the centre of the Cyclades. Composed of gneiss and granite, it is barren and almost waterless and was incapable of supporting its inhabitants.
Delos, the only place to offer shelter to Leto, was the birthplace of her children Apollo and Artemis, as recounted in the Archaic Homeric Hymn to Apollo. This was the basis of its historical importance. It was also the burial-place of the Hyperboreans (legendary race of Apollo-worshippers in the far north). Anius was its heroic founder, son and priest of Apollo, later associated with the Trojan cycle.
Early bronze age occupation on Mt. Cynthus was succeeded by a Mycenaean settlement on the low ground later occupied by the sanctuary....
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