Delos: The Orientation of Delos Monuments

Apollo's sacred island, Delos, is an extended archaeological site, which contains important monuments dating from prehistoric to Hellenistic times. In this article the orientation of some of the most significant monuments of the site are studied. Each monument has been measured by means of modern accurate geodetic and astrogeodetic methods and instrumentation so that its plan, its main (longitudinal) axis, the profile of the perceptible horizon as seen from the monument and the astronomical azimuth of the main axis are determined. Special attention and study have been reserved to the Cave of Kynthos (Andron), as the latter was considered as an ancient observatory. This study attempts also a possible dating of the measured monuments based on their orientation and its relation to special celestial bodies. All data deduced by measurements and calculations, as well as historical information have been used for the creation of a database in Macromedia software.