Amyklai - Sanctuary of Apollo of Amyklaios

(Local Name: Ayía Paraskeví) 11km/7mi south of Sparta, on the hill of Ayía Paraskeví, is the site of Amyklai, with the sanctuary of Apollo Amyklaios and the 13m/43ft high "Throne of Apollo" built over the grave of Hyakinthos.

48km/30mi southeast is Geráki with its Crusader castle.

Amyklai was inhabited from the Bronze Age and remained the capital of a dynasty that ruled from Archaic times until the first Messinian War (743 - 724 B.C.), when it was conquered by the Spartans.

On the hill of Ayía Kiriaki one can see remnants of the Archaic Sanctuary of Apollo, which at one time boasted an enormous statue of the god seated on the altar-tomb of Khyakinthos, a pre-Greek divinity, in whose honor were held the Khyakinthia, one of the most important Spartan religious festivals.