Replica of 'Serpent Column' to be erected at Delphi

The Central Archaeological Council announced on last week that a copy of a bronze column dedicated by 31 city states that had fought in the Battle of Plataea (479 BC) against the Persians will be replicated and put on display at Delphi, thus reports the Prothothema. To the side is a Digital representation of the monument, of which only the stone base remains, as it will appear at Delphi [Credit: Ethnos].


The impressive column originally depicted three serpents tightly coiled running the whole length, with the heads supporting a gold tripod and bowl. These were later melted down by the Phocaeans to cover war costs. The names of the city states that participated in the battle were carved along the coils but these have since been eroded and are no longer visible. According to Herodotus the offering was made from Persian spoils of war.

In the 4th century AD, the column was transferred to Constantinople by Constantine the Great. It was displayed in the middle of the Hippodrome where it still stands. Two of the three heads were broken off in the 16th century and lost. The third is in the Istanbul Archaeological Museum.

The copy is being made using a plaster cast kept at the Delphi Museum since 1980. The cast preserves the names of the city states that are no longer visible on the original. The bronze column is currently in Istanbul and stands at six meters.