Temple of Apollo below Mt. Parnassus, Delphi. The place where this temple was built was the most sacred point of the Delphic sanctuary and geological studies have shown that two fault lines cross directly beneath it. It is logical to consider that it was here that that the pre-temple cult and the oracular process of the early sanctuary took place. According to the Delphic traditions six temples were built one after the other on the same spot. The first was built of laurel branches, the second of wax and bee's wings and the third of bronze. The forth, which was the first to be documented archaeologically was built around 650 BC. Visible at the bottom of the image is the the polygonal retaining wall which comprises stones bound together in a system known as 'Lesbian masonry' with curved joints. Above the temple is Mount Parnasus.