dionysos' holy places in greece


Naxos

Delphi
 His Special Holy Places: 

Naxos

Naxos has always been known as Dionysos' sacred island. It was on the shores of Naxos that the god found the abandoned Ariadne and made her his bride. Local history still tells that Dionysos made their land fertile and produced the famous vineyards. Some myth versions even have Dionysos' birth on Naxos. And it was on his way to Naxos once that the god was kidnapped by pirates and turned his captors into dolphins to escape.

Delphi

Dionysos shares Delphi with his brother Apollon, ruling the area during the winter months when Apollon leaves for the land of the Hyperboreans. Although Apollon's oracle with its Pythia is more famous, Plutarch - a priest at Delphi - said that the religion of Dionysos was no less important there. His maenads were known to hold wild revels on the slopes of Mt. Parnassos. And in ancient times one could see the grave of Dionysos here, where his previous incarnation was buried after being torn apart by the Titans.

Thrace

It was often said in ancient times that Dionysos was a foreign god, whose cult came to Greece from the east (Asia Minor) by way of Thrace, or originated in Thrace entirely. Whether or not that is true historically, Thrace became a particularly holy area for Dionysian worship, and to this day the remnants of such practices can be found there, and have been brought to other areas of Greece by Thracians (like those who perform the Anastenaria ritual). It was in Thrace that Dionysos encountered the antagonistic king Lykourgos. And in that same area, now modern Bulgaria, there was in ancient times an oracle of Dionysos, which archaeologists may have just recently uncovered.


Delos

Pergamum
His Temples and other Holy Sites: 

Tinos Island

Pergamum (Asia Minor)

Athens (Temple and Theatre at the base of the Acropolis)

Delos

Ikaria (where Dionysos first introduced men to wine)

Vatera (Lesbos)

Teos (where the Technitai Dionusou originated)

Villa of Mysteries (Pompeii)

Sites mentioned by Pausanias (scroll down past epithets)