Dionysos' Sanctuary

A temple that honors Dionysos (or Dionysus). In antiquity, one of the great annual celebrations on the island was the Dionysia. During the period of Delian Independence (3rd century BC), they were celebrated in the month of Galaxion (March - April) each year, the time when the sailors began their trips in the Aegean Sea. The most important element of the festival was the phallophoria, where the statue of a bird with a phallic head was carried on a chariot. During the Dionysia, dramatic and choral contests were also held under the sponsorship system. In the southern part of the temple of Dionysos (or Dionysus), there is a statue of the sponsor Karystios (late 4th, early 3rd century BC).