Mount Parnassus
— — the mountain the old poets wrote toward.
Not only on a wall.
“A limestone massif in central Greece, rising above Delphi and the Pleistos valley. The Greeks gave it to Apollo and the Muses, and the name has carried into every European language as a word for the seat of poetry. In winter the upper slopes hold snow and the small ski centre opens; the rest of the year the mountain is a long pale ridge above the olive country. — from the studio
Mount Parnassus, on ceramic.
Each tile is finished by hand in our Knoxville studio. Artwork is slowly infused into the ceramic surface under high heat and pressure, and rests beneath a thin glossy finish. The colour lives in the surface, not on top of it.
Pick any four 4-inch tiles — National Parks you've been to, a Smokies set, the four seasons of one place. $ for a set of , cork-backed, ready to live on the table.
The place, in three passes.
Mount Parnassus is a limestone massif in central Greece, peaking at Liakoura at 2,457 metres. It rises between the regions of Phocis and Boeotia, with the ancient site of Delphi on its southwestern flank. The mountain is the centrepiece of Parnassos National Park, established in 1938 — one of the first national parks in Greece. The slopes hold groves of Greek fir (Abies cephalonica), wild herbs, and the karst springs that fed the Castalian fountain at Delphi. The nearest town of any size is Arachova, on the southern shoulder.
The massif is composed of Mesozoic limestone, weathered into long pale ridges and karst hollows that hold snow late into spring. The same limestone formed the rock terrace at Delphi, where the Temple of Apollo was built in the 4th century BC on the site of earlier sanctuaries. The Castalian Spring still runs at the foot of the Phaedriades, the two cliffs that close the sanctuary on the east. From the village of Arachova at 940 metres, the stone reads warm at sunset.
Most visitors reach the mountain from Delphi, about 180 kilometres northwest of Athens by road. The archaeological site and museum are open year round; standard admission is set by the Greek Ministry of Culture and runs higher in the summer season. The Parnassos Ski Centre, on the northeastern flank near Kelaria and Fterolakka, operates roughly December through April and is the largest ski area in Greece. Arachova, ten kilometres east of Delphi, holds the main winter lodging.