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Home > Travel Europe > Europe Destinations > Dodona
Dodona
Europe is one of the five inhabited traditional continents of the Earth. Physically and geologically, Europe is the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, west of Asia. Europe is the world's second-smallest continent in terms of area and third-largest continent after Asia and Africa in population.
At Dodona in Epirus, northwestern Greece, was a prehistoric oracle devoted to the Greek god, Zeus and the Mother Goddess identified at other sites with Rhea or Gaia, but here called Dione. The shrine of Dodona was the oldest Hellenic oracle, according to the fifth-century historian Herodotus and in fact dates to pre-Hellenic times, perhaps as early as the second millennium. Priests and priestesses in the sacred grove interpreted the rustling of the oak leaves to determine the correct actions to be taken. Greek oracles are often misconstrued as having predicted the future. In the third century, King Pyrrhus grandly rebuilt the Temple of Zeus and added many other buildings and a festival featuring athletic games, musical contests, and drama enacted in a theatre. A wall was built around the oracle itself and the holy tree, as well as temples to Heracles and Dione.
In 219 BCE, before Christ Era, the Aetolians invaded and burned the temple to the ground. Though King Philip V of Macedon rebuilt all the buildings bigger and better than before, and added a stadium for annual games, the oracle at Dodona never fully recovered. In 167 BCE, Dodona was once again destroyed and later rebuilt 31 BCE by Emperor Augustus. By the time the traveller Pausanias visited Dodona in the second century AD, the sacred grove had been reduced to a single oak. Pilgrims still consulted the oracle until CE, Christ Era 391, when Christians cut down the holy tree. Though the surviving town was insignificant, the long-hallowed pagan site must have retained significance, for a Christian Bishop of Dodona attended the Council of Ephesus in CE 431. Dodona is also known as the town of best geographical environment and has traced its origins back to prehistoric times. Today, one can also learn about its history, from its earliest times and can also enjoy its natural beauty concealed by the beautiful landscapes.
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