Greece, where the landscape shaped the sanctuary

In Thessaly, monks began settling among Meteora’s sandstone pillars during the 11th century. By the late 15th century, twenty-four monasteries had been built there despite the difficult terrain. UNESCO inscribed the property in 1988 under five criteria, including (vii) for its exceptional natural beauty. UNESCO says the sandstone peaks, which rise more than 400 metres above ground level, were created about 60 million years ago from river-delta deposits and later carved by earthquakes, rain and wind. Theophanes the Cretan painted frescoes in the Saint Nicholas Anapafsas monastery in 1527; UNESCO says they became a basic reference for post-Byzantine painting.[1][4]

Delphi lies below Mount Parnassus, in the gap between two steep rocks in Phocis, Central Greece. UNESCO records Mycenaean remains from 1500–1100 BC and dates the start of the sanctuary’s and oracle’s development to the 8th century BC. It adds that the main features of the natural setting shaped how the cults were organised. UNESCO says pilgrims from across the then-known world travelled to consult the oracle, delivered by the Pythia, Apollo’s priestess; ancient Greeks regarded Delphi as the centre of the world. The Theatre and Stadium hosted the Pythian Games every four years. UNESCO inscribed the site in 1987.[2]

Delos is a small, rocky island of about 350 hectares in the centre of the Aegean Sea. Greek tradition places Apollo’s and Artemis’s birth there; an Apollo sanctuary existed by the 9th century BC at the latest. UNESCO links the island’s commercial rise to its designation as a free port in 167 BC: merchants, bankers and ship-owners settled there and commissioned houses decorated with frescoes and mosaics. Raids in 88 and 69 BC preceded a rapid decline. Excavations begun in 1872 continue today, and the whole island is treated as an archaeological site.[3]