The
Castalian Spring, in the
ravine between the
Phaedriades at
Delphi, is where all visitors to Delphi — the contestants in the
Pythian Games, and especially s who came to consult the
Delphic Oracle — stopped to wash themselves and soothen their thirst; it is also here that the Pythia and the priests cleansed themselves before the oracle-giving process. Finally Roman poets regarded it as a source of poetic inspiration. According to some mythological versions it was here that
Apollo killed the monster,
Python, who was guarding the spring, and that is why it was considered to be sacred.