The history of Rhamnous is interwoven with the history of its greatest temple that of Nemesis.

John McK. Camp II

Director of Athenian Agora Excavations of the American School of Classical Studies at Athens

The marketplace: ancient Athens' body and heart

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 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.

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.