Roman Agora, Ancient marketplace in Delphi, Greece

The Roman Agora is the first building encountered when entering the sanctuary of Apollo at Delphi: a large rectangular paved square. Ionic porticoes surrounded it on three sides, while the south side formed a kind of corridor. The visible remains along the north and north-west sides date to Late Antiquity.

The square was built in Roman times, and the visible remains along its north and north-west sides date to Late Antiquity. In that period workshops were set up inside the agora, and the Sacred Way, still the settlement's main street, took on commercial and industrial use. Architectural members of a fifth-century Christian basilica were found during the Great Excavation, from the time Delphi was a bishopric.

This marketplace served as a meeting point where locals and pilgrims mingled while buying ritual objects and everyday goods before entering the sanctuary. The layout reflects how commerce and worship were deeply connected in daily life.

The Roman Agora is the first building reached on entering the sanctuary of Apollo, so it opens a visit to Delphi. The Sacred Way, the site's main street in antiquity, continues from here up toward the temples. The square is paved and level, and the remains of the north and north-west colonnades stand along its edges.

The open space probably held an open-air market where visitors bought votive offerings and other cult objects needed for the sanctuary. In late antiquity, craftsmen's workshops were set up inside the agora, and the Sacred Way became a street of commercial and industrial use.