Suppliants who came
to seek the advice of the oracle ritually washed their hands and hair at the Castalian
Spring before entering the sacred precinct. Murderers had to wash the whole of their bodies
(please note I wash my hands only!)
The
archaic (590-600 BC) fountain house of the Castalian Spring. Surrounded by benches, the
marble-lined basin collected the mountain spring water via its bronze lion-head water
spouts.
The picture on the
far left shows the point where the gorge
Arkoudorema divides the Phaedriades...site of the famed
den of the Python slain by Apollo. The smaller photo on the left is of the fountain house which dates to Pausanias'
Hellenistic times. Local folklore says that water
from this spring has mystical healing properties.
The
basin of the Hellenistic era Fountain House, carved into the rock (all that algae covers a
basin full of water). The niches were originally used to house votive offerings to the
nymph Castalia, later as Christian shrines. The large niche on the right became a church
dedicated to St. John the Baptist.
Suppliants who came
to seek the advice of the oracle ritually washed their hands and hair at the Castalian
Spring before entering the sacred precinct. Murderers had to wash the whole of their bodies
(please note I wash my hands only!) 
