Delphi is located in lower central Greece along the slope of Mount Parnassus. Delphi was consider the center of the world to the ancient Greeks. According to Greek mythology, Zeus released two eagles from each side of the earth and they met in the sky above Delphi. Piercing one another with their beaks, they fell to the ground at the center of the world.
Apollo slaying Python (click to enlarge)
“In this place I am minded to build a glorious temple to be an oracle for men, and here they will always bring perfect hecatombs, both they who dwell in Peloponnesus and the men of Europe and from all the wave-washed isles, coming to question me. And I will deliver to them all counsel that cannot fail, answering them in my rich temple.”
Before Apollo,the serpent Python was the guardian of Delphi Castalian Spring. Python was the son of Greek goddess Gala or Mother Earth. According to Ancient legend, Apollo killed Gala with a arrow proclaiming the spring as his own. As punishment for killing Gala son, Zeus ordered Apollo to serve as a slave to a mortal for eight years