Ancient Olympia

The most markedly monumental building not only in the entire site but in the whole region of the Peloponnese, the Temple of Zeus stood at the centre of the sacred enclosure and is considered to set the golden rule for Doric temples.

As we have seen elsewhere in the course of our tour around Greek archaeological sites, sanctuaries were places of paramount importance not only in terms of religion and worship, but also as places to exhibit wealth, power, and political prowess.

Arguably the greatest sculptor of Classical Antiquity, Pheidias created numerous masterpieces from 460 to 430 BC, including the two chryselephantine statues of Athena and Zeus in Athens and Olympia, respectively, with the latter being one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. 

Built outside the sacred enclosure, the Council House is one of the oldest buildings at the site, having taken almost two centuries to complete (6th century BC 4th century BC).

Much more than just a site where the Olympic Games took place, Olympia was an important sanctuary where worship was practiced throughout the Olympic cycle.

Built at the foot of Kronios hill from the seventh to the mid-fifth century BC, these small, temple-shaped structures housed the most valuable offerings dedicated to Zeus by cities all over the Greek World.

The site at Olympia was one of paramount importance both in the Greek and in the Roman World.

The Temple of Hera was associated with both the Olympic Games and the Heraean Games, a separate festival for female athletes, probably organised during the Olympic year, though before the Olympics.

The Stadium is the structure which best reflects the evolution stages of the Games, with its location and capacity varying as the event grew popular and changed in status and character from religious to secular.

The monumental, formal entrance to the Stadium of Olympia owes its name to an arch built above it in the Hellenistic Era (krypte = covered, hidden).

To enter the Stadium through the formal entrance, known as the ‘Krypte Stoa’, athletes had to pass by the Zanes, sixteen bronze statues of Zeus, whose commission was funded by the fines imposed on athletes for foul play during the Olympic Games.

Also known as the Poikile (=painted) Stoa, the Echo Stoa is not to be confused with the monument of the same name in the Athenian agora.

To understand the significance of this monument, it is essential to bear in mind the importance of hero cults in Greece, as well as the mythological background on the hero Pelops, which forms the core of the founding myth of the Olympic Games and connects the event with the land of Pelops, the Peloponnese.

The Palaestra was the minor component of the Gymnasium complex built west of the Altis, by the Kladeos river.

Herodes Atticus was a wealthy Greek aristocrat of the 2nd century AD, who received classical education as a sophist and managed to reach the highest ranks of consul and senator in the Roman Republic.

Divine mothers are venerated in many religions, and the titaness Rhea, mother (Anc. Greek meter>metroon) of the Olympian Gods, was not an exception in Ancient Greek religion.

The first baths ever built at the site of Olympia were a small complex west of the sanctuary, close to the River Kladeos.

Built around 330 BC just outside the sacred enclosure of the Altis, this luxurious building was reserved for the wealthy and distinguished guests who stayed in the sanctuary during the Olympic Games.

The cult of heroes was an important part of Greco-Roman religious practice and worship.

The flat strip of land located at the northwest of the sanctuary of Olympia, adjacent to the bank of the river Kladeos, was the ideal space to accommodate the compound of the Gymnasium and the Palaestra.