The importance of the twin locations grew to the point where Delphi has also been made the name of the modern-day municipality, which includes the communities of the Plaistos valley system as far south as the Gulf of Corinth.
In addition to the archaeological interest, Delphi attracts tourists visiting the Parnassus Ski Center and the popular coastal towns of the region.
Initially under the control of Phocaean settlers based in nearby Kirra (currently Itea), Delphi was reclaimed by the Athenians during the First Sacred War (597–585 BC).
The conflict resulted in the consolidation of the Amphictyonic League, which had both a military and a religious function revolving around the protection of the Temple of Apollo.
Although subsequent Roman emperors of the Flavian dynasty contributed towards to the restoration of the site, it gradually lost importance.
Christianity, which started as yet one more mystery cult, soon gained ground, and this eventually resulted in the persecution of pagans in the late Roman Empire.
[citation needed] The emperor Julian attempted to reverse this religious climate, yet his "pagan revival" was particularly short-lived.
When the doctor Oreibasius visited the oracle of Delphi, in order to question the fate of paganism, he received a pessimistic answer: Εἴπατε τῷ βασιλεῖ, χαμαὶ πέσε δαίδαλος αὐλά,οὐκέτι Φοῖβος ἔχει καλύβην, οὐ μάντιδα δάφνην,οὐ παγὰν λαλέουσαν, ἀπέσβετο καὶ λάλον ὕδωρ.
The victors at Delphi were presented with a laurel crown (stephanos) which was ceremonially cut from a tree by a boy who re-enacted the slaying of the Python.
Delphi would have been a renowned city regardless of whether it hosted these games; it had other attractions that led to it being labeled the "omphalos" (navel) of the earth, in other words, the centre of the world.
It seems that one of the first buildings of the early modern era was the monastery of the Dormition of Mary or of Panagia (the Mother of God) built above the ancient gymnasium at Delphi.
The first Westerner to describe the remains in Delphi was Ciriaco de' Pizzicolli (Cyriacus of Ancona), a 15th-century merchant turned diplomat and antiquarian.
His identifications however were not always correct: for example he described a round building he saw as the temple of Apollo while this was simply the base of the Argives' ex-voto.