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The ancient Krissa

According to writings of antiquity, Crisa is the rocky ledge that is detached from Mount Parnassus through the crack of the Fedriades Stones and includes both the place where the Temple of Apollo and the area where the ruins of the citadel of Crisa are located. This description matches the very meaning of the word Crisa indicating the area that lies like a cape in the valley of the Pleiston River.

The French Archeological School of Athens did excavations in the citadel of Crisa in 1936 from which it was shown that the citadel was inhabited continuously from 1800 to 100 B.C. During these years, Crisa was considered to be an important regional power having under its political influence the pre-existing Sanctuary and Oracle of the goddess Earth, the Crisaean Field and the Crisaean Gulf territory, as well as the so-called ‘Under’ or ‘Out of the Walls City’.

The collapse of the Mycenaen Crisa took place in 100B.C. due to a number of causes. The blockage of trade was mainly the cause of the Trojan War, with the object of enduring a free passage to the wealth of the Black Sea. The Sacred, according to Homer, Crisa, participated in this war. The war itself, as well as the absence of leadership, led to an economic and defensive weakness, of which the Dorians took advantage and destroyed the citadel of Crisa which was not reoccupied.

Three centuries after the destruction, the territory of the ‘Out of the Walls City’ of the Mykenaean Crisa evolved in the historic town of Crisa. This territory is geared rather to the geographical area of the present Chrisso. The existence of the City of Crisa on the slope above the Crisaean Field is verified through the use of the terms Crisaeans, Crisaean Field and Crisaean Gulf, throughout antiquity and through the existence of an altar with an inscription in the phocian alphabet of the 7th century B.C.

The 1st Holy War (6th century B.C.) changed the balance of powers with the destruction of Crisa and Kirra, the prevalence of Delphi and the dedication to the god Apollo of the Crisaean Field. It is possible that the Crisaean refugees created an important settlement, maintaining the name Crisa on the east and close to the reconstructed seaport of Delphi, Kirra.

A smaller settlement consisting of farmers of the Crisaean field existed from the Mycenaean years. That settlement became the core of the later Chrisso and the name emerged linguistically from the phrase Crisaean Gulf.

Chrisso started to develop gradually during the 6th and 7th century B.C. after the moving of the population from Deplhi to Kirra, along with the settlement of Crisa, due to the Arabic and Slavic raids, a deadly epidemic and a series of earthquakes.

Chrisso was then considered a safe place and has been organised in a political and social structure from the 9th century B.C. until today.

Tuesday to Sunday: 9:00 - 15:00
Closed on Monday

The Ethnological Folklore Museum of Chrisso is located in the traditional village of Chrissos, 5 km from Delphi.