Delos - Mt Kynthos

To climb Mt Kynthos, on Delos, follow an ancient road that runs southeast to the dry bed of the river Inopós (which even in antiquity had little water). Immediately west of the gorge is the House of Inopós (second century B.C.), and to the south, farther up the river bed, are the House of the Dolphins (with a dolphin mosaic in the peristyle) and the House of Masks. To the east, on a terrace above the gorge, is the Sanctuary of the Syrian Gods, in which Serapis, Isis, Anubis and Harpokrates were venerated from the second century B.C. From here the ancient road (partly stepped) climbs to the summit of Mt Kynthos (113m/371ft), once crowned by the temple of Zeus Kynthos and Athena Kynthia (third century B.C.), successor to an earlier temple of the seventh century B.C.

From the top of the hill there are extensive views: to the south the hills of Náxos, to the west Syros with its chief town Ermoúpolis, to the north the mountainous island of Tínos and to the east Mykonos with its numerous chapels. On the western slope of the hill is a grotto roofed with massive stone slabs containing the base of a statue.