Archeological Site of Ancient Olympia

In the beautiful valley of the river Alpheus in Olympia, flourished the most glorified sanctuary of ancient Greece, dedicated to the father of gods and men, Zeus. Here were born the most important Panhellenic games in honor of God, the Olympiacos, which with their radiation and brilliance illuminate humanity from ancient times until today.

The Sacred Alti (and Altis), the sacred grove, in which the core of the Sanctuary is located, is separated from the surrounding area by a precinct.

The magnificent Temple of Zeus (470-456 BC), the most important building of Altea in Olympia, the work of the architect Livon of Ilio, dominates the sacred area in a prominent position. It is the largest temple in the Peloponnese which is considered the perfect expression of Doric church architecture. Inside it was the chryselephantine statue of Zeus which was crafted by the famous Athenian sculptor Phidias. In the Hellenistic period it was included among the seven wonders of the era.

In the back building of the temple of Zeus, one can see the place where the wild olive tree grew, from which every four years a child, whose parents were both alive, was called upon to cut the branches from which the cotinus was made, the wreath of winners.

North of the temple of Zeus is the Temple of Hera, a goddess who was also worshiped in Olympia. According to the prevailing opinion, the temple was built around 600 BC. while today it is considered one of the oldest examples of monumental church building in Greece. Along with other valuable objects, the disk of Iphitos, which had the text of the sacred truce engraved on it, was kept in the temple. In the Roman years, the temple was turned into a kind of museum, where some of the most valuable works of the sanctuary were kept, among which one of the masterpieces of the classical period that survived to our time, the famous complex of Hermes with the young Dionysus of Athens sculptor Praxiteli. In honor of Hera, the Irea was celebrated, a festival organized by sixteen women of noble origin from Elis and other cities of the ancient state of Ilia. The Heraia included girls' road races in the stadium of Olympia and the awarding of a cotinus to the winner, corresponding to the Olympic Games, which were an all-male affair from which women were excluded.

In the area between the two temples there was the great Altar of Zeus, a very important monument, where on the fourth day of the Olympic Festival, every four years, the "ekatamvi" i.e. the sacrifice of a hundred oxen was completed. Archaeologists found in the excavations of the Holy Alte a thick layer of ash from the altar destroyed in late antiquity. The ashes were the remains of the repeated sacrifices which the temple officials consolidated and incorporated as sacred on the altar of Zeus. The altar is not preserved today.

To the east of the temple of Hera is the Nymphaeum, the brilliant aqueduct dedicated in the middle of the 2nd century. A.D. in the sanctuary Herod the Atticus, whose function solved the chronic water supply problems of the Sanctuary. The Nymphaeum was decorated with marble statues of remarkable art which were saved and are exhibited in the Archaeological Museum of Olympia.

On the same side was the Mitroo, a Doric temple of classical times and of relatively small dimensions, dedicated to the mother of the gods Rhea-Kyveli, which in Roman times was dedicated to the worship of the emperors.

Inside Alti there were also the Pelopio, a funerary monument dedicated to the hero Pelops, mythical founder of the Olympic Games, and the Philippi, the elegant circular building dedicated by King Philip II of Macedonia, father of Alexander the Great, after the battle of Chaeronea (338 e.g.). Philip was even a three-time Olympian in the chariot races and equestrian events held at the Hippodrome of Olympia.

At the foot of Kronius hill, the Treasures of the sanctuary of Olympia were gathered in temple-shaped buildings that had been built in a special place in the sanctuary by various Greek cities, mainly from the colonies of the Greeks, where they kept their precious tributes.

In the outdoor area of the sanctuary, among the temples and buildings, there was a multitude of statues of gods and heroes, statues of Olympians, tributes of famous individuals and Greek cities, many of which were saved and can be admired by the visitor at the Archaeological Museum of Olympia. Among them is the famous sculpture of the goddess Nike, messenger of Zeus, the work of Paeonios, which was set on a high, marble pedestal opposite the eastern main face of the temple of Zeus, where the award ceremony of the Olympians took place.

In the western part of the archaeological site, the remains of buildings that served the athletes, the staff of the sanctuary and the official visitors are preserved: the Gymnasium and the Palestra, the Theikoleon and the Leonidaio. Also located here is the Workshop of Phidias, where the great sculptor worked for ten years, the Heroon as well as the remains of baths, Roman baths and later Roman hostels.

To the east of Altea stretches the Olympian Stadium of the classical era, which is connected to the sacred space through the Crypt stoa, the sacred stone vaulted passage to it. In ancient times, south of the stadium there was also the Hippodrome, of which no trace survives today, because it has been swept away by the Alpheios river.

Other notable buildings of Olympia are the Stoa of Echoes, also known as the Divers Stoa which separates the sacred space from the Stadium, Nero's mansion where the infamous Roman emperor stayed during his visit to the Sanctuary, the Bouleuterion which was the headquarters of the Olympic Parliament and the sacred oath of athletes and judges was given. Finally, the Rectory, in the NW corner of Altea, the seat of the Ilian officials, where the sacred flame burned unquenchable on the altar of Hestia.

Over the centuries, the buildings of the area experienced many disasters, but they were repaired and reused. During Theodosius II's reign, the final destruction of the sanctuary occurred (426 AD) and in the middle of the 5th c. A.D. a small Christian settlement grew on top of the already ruined buildings. The sanctuary was affected by the earthquakes of the 6th century. A.D. who gave the final blow causing the collapse of the great temple of Zeus.

The establishment of the Olympic Games in honor of Zeus goes back to the mythical era and is attributed to various heroes, the main ones being Pelops and Hercules. However, in the historical era they had stopped being held and after a related oracle of the oracle of Delphi, they were reorganized in 776 BC. by Iphitos, king of Elis.

Ilida was in ancient times an important city of the Peloponnese in the fertile plain through which the river Pinios flows. It was the capital of the state of Ilia which had under its guardianship the Sanctuary of Olympia and was responsible for organizing the great festival of the Greeks in honor of Zeus. Iphitos, together with the kings of Pisa and Sparta, Cleosthenes and Lycurgus, respectively, established the Sacred Truce, the great agreement that served as a protective shield against the frequent military confrontations between the Greeks, the pilgrims, the athletes and in general the institution of the sacred Olympics Games.

The Olympic Games continued to be held every four years without interruption until the first Christian years, when they were abolished by Theodosius I in 393 AD, after the 293rd Olympiad was held.

The invaluable archaeological treasures of Ancient Olympia remained buried in the earth until modern times and came to light gradually from 1875 onwards, following the extensive, systematic excavations and other archaeological investigations carried out by the German Archaeological Institute to this day.

The operation, maintenance and general supervision of the site belongs to the Ephorate of Antiquities of Ilia of the Ministry of Culture.

The Archaeological Site of Olympia has been registered in the UNESCO World Heritage List since 1989, due to its close reference to today's reality, while it is protected like the wider area through the Natura 2000 Network.

Copyediting:

Ephorate of Antiquities of Ilia