GREECE - Olympia

22:21 Travel Bunny 0 Comments

Olympia is one of the most well known tourist destination in Greece. The Olympic Games were held in Olympia every four years beginning in 776 BC. It was also a center for worship of Zeus during the 10th century BC. The Olympic Games were held as a sacred truce concluded by three kings of Elis, Sparta and Pisa. It ensured the cessation of hostilities and a suspension of executions for the duration of the games.

The Archeological Site of Olympia is inscribed in the UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The tickets of archeological museum and archeological site are 6 Euro each.

The archeological site of Olympia includes the sanctuary of Zeus and the many buildings erected around it. The Altis, the sacred grove and the center of the sanctuary, is surrounded by enclosure wall which separate it from the stadium.

There are a few rules to follow while visiting the archeological site: don’t bring animals, don’t climb on the ancient monument, don’t carry off any object whatsoever from the site, don’t enter areas that have been temporarily fenced off or pollute the environment.

As you can see, there is not much left of the buildings besides foundations, steps and columns here. This is due to the destruction of the site by Emperor Theodosius II who banned the games in 426 and several earthquakes.

This is the ancient gymnasium. Its west wing has been swept away by Kladeos River.

This is only the southeast part of the gymnasium that was revealed during previous excavations by the German Archaeological Institutes.

Hopefully the remaining parts of the gymnasium will be brought to light when the excavation project is completed.

This small building is the work shop of Pheidas, the renowned Athenian sculptor who fashioned the gold and ivory made statue of Zeus, one of the seven wonders of the ancient world.

Many objects used for making the cult statue of the god were found in the workshop (terra cotta molds, tools and etc.). In the 5th century AD, the building was converted into an Early Christian church.

This large rectangular shape building was named Leonidaion, after the architect and donator Leonides from Nados.

It is the accommodation of the officials, built about 330 BC.

The Temple of Zeus, built in 5th century is the most important building at the site.

Unfortunately, the temple was destroyed by the earthquakes of 522 and 551 AD.

A description of how the Temple of Zeus would have looked like.

The colossal gold and ivory made cult status of Zeus was positioned in the cella.

The reconstruction of corner column of the temple of Zeus was carried out for the 2004 Olympics by the German Archeological Institutes.

And this is the base of the statue of the winged Victory, made by the famous sculptor Paeonios. The base is 9m high, so the combined height of the base and the statue was 12m.

Temple of Hera is the oldest temple of the sanctuary, among the best specimens of archaic Doric temple architecture. The original wooden columns were gradually replaced by stone ones. According to legend, the desk of the Sacred Truce was kept here.

This is where the Olympic flame was lit from the sun and then taken by runners to light the torch wherever the games are being held. This tradition dates all the way back to the 1936 AD.

The Philippeon built at the end of 4th century BC is donated by Philip II after the battle of Chaeronea (338 BC).

Prehistoric building of apsidal houses.

Last but not least, I visited the stadium (built in the middle of 5th century BC). This is the monumental entrance to the stadium.

The embankments did not have stone seats, except for the preserved platform for the judges at the Olympic Games on the south. The altar of Demeter Hamyne is still visible on the north embankment. The stadium could seat at least 20,000 people and was the largest of its kind.

The Olympic Games were originally open only to Greek born men but later Romans were allowed to compete. Slaves and women were not even allowed to be spectators and women caught sneaking in were thrown off a cliff.

Kronion Thermae, the bath house.

After visiting the archaeological site, it’s time to visit the Archaeological Museum of Olympia.

Visiting the museum is a must since it has some of the most important works of Classical art.

Various bronze helmets.

Ancient bronze shield.

Back section of a bronze cuirass with incised decoration, which clearly belonged to a distinguished warrior.

The east pediment of Temple of Zeus: The chariot race of Pelops and Oinomaos. It portrays the fundamental myth of Olympia, which is the struggle for supremacy over the Sanctuary.

Statue of Oinomaos is on the left side of Zeus at the center of the pediment. Status of Pelops is on the right side of Zeus.

The west pediment of Temple of Zeus: Battle of Lapiths and Centaurs.

According to the myth, the Centaurs were invited to the wedding of the king of Lapiths. However, they got drunk and abused the king’s hospitality, attempting to abduct the lovely Lapith women and it turned into a fierce fight.

A terracotta statue depicting Zeus carrying off young Ganymedes.

The statue of Nike by Paionios. According to Olympic legend, she used to come down from the sky to hand a palm leaf to the winners.

The famous Hermes of Praxiteles is one of the museum’s masterpieces. It is discovered in 1877 in the ruins of the Temple of Hera, Olympia. This statue depicts the messenger of the gods, charged by Zeus to take the infant Dionysos to the Nymphs, who were to nurse him, rests on the way having thrown his cloak over a tree.

Protected by a thick layer of clay above it, it was in an exceptionally good state of preservation. Hermes is still missing his right forearm, two fingers of his left hand, both forearms below the elbow, the left foot and his penis. Much of the tree trunk and the plinth are also lost.

Statue of a bull. On the statue of a bull is a votive inscription of Regilla, Herodes Atticus’s wife.

Statue of Emperor of Hadrian, the 14th Emperor of the Roman Empire.

Statue of Agrippina, the younger wife of the emperor Claudius.

An artist impression of how the statue of Zeus looked like.

The museum shop.

Museum’s cafe.

It’s time to leave the museum.

The modern town of Olympia.

While the rest of my tour group enjoyed their lunch, we decided to explore the Olympia town on our own instead. The town itself is a collection of tourist shops, cafes, restaurants and a Historical Museum of the Olympic Games.