South of the harbour

Along the shore to the south of the Sacred Harbour, a series of magazines or warehouses, have their backs to the Theatre Quarter. They would have opened on to a quay bordering one of the five basins of the Commercial Harbour (whose outlines can be distinguished when the water is still). All have substantial marble thresholds for the fixing and locking of gates: one has a well-preserved peristyle court in its interior. Further south is the line of the city wall running down to the sea, followed by a second group of magazines. There was no conspicuous communication between these warehouses and the Theatre Quarter behind them—an indication possibly that much of Delos ’s commerce was essentially a transit trade. The blocks of buildings which follow are divided by streets running parallel to the sea or at right angles to it; each has a central court surrounded by large structures used as bonded warehouses. A typical example is the ‘Magazine of the Columns’. The building adjoining it has a fine marble basin in its vestibule. One hundred metres further south are the remains of a shoreside sanctuary of the Dioscuri, protectors of seamen, dating in all probability from the end of the 6th century bc.
   Approximately 800m beyond, following an indistinct path, is the Bay of Fourni, sheltered from the north winds by a rocky promontory on which are the ruins of a Sanctuary of Asklepios which, as a refuge frequented primarily by the sick, was founded at a safe distance from the centre of the town. It consists of three buildings in a line. The northernmost is a pro-style Doric temple with four columns; beyond is a large hall constructed with granite blocks, with a door on its east side—probably an ‘abaton’ or infirmary; and finally the propylaia to the sanctuary, paved in white marble.

Delos Island is part of the Cyclades Island Group, Greece.

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