Historical background
Olympia is the sacred ground where in 776 BC the very first Olympic Games were organized. From then on, the Games were held in Olympia every four years until about 400 AD, an unimaginable span of 1,200 years. To put it in perspective, the modern Olympics have been held since 1896, spanning less than 130 years.
The Olympic Games were rightfully sacred, as they were held in honour of the Greek supreme god Zeus. Playing sports was accompanied by the necessary religious ceremonies and sacrifices. The size and wealth of the temples in Olympia is significant. Sport was religion. That came to an end in the last editions of the ancient Olympics, with the rise of Christianity. Worshiping Greek gods was pagan in the eyes of Christians and was banned.
Excavation site
Visitors from all over the world stand in front of the entrance to the excavation site, clubbed together in large groups. Everything is tightly organised. Each group has a guide who hands out entrance tickets and stickers with a number to the people in their group. The guides themselves have a large plastic sign with the same number on it, so that the group can easily follow them. With the tickets that we already purchased at the Archaeological Museum, we smoothly pass through the groups and ticket control.
Gymnasion
The Gymnasion is the training complex for the athletes. Originally it was just a sports field the same size as the stadium. Over time, covered colonnades were built on all four sides. Nowadays, only highly weathered remnants of the columns stand to the east and south of the Gymnasion. A small portion of the northern gallery has been excavated across the provincial road. The west side was probably once washed away by a river flood.
Palaistra
Right next to the Gymnasion is the Palaistra, which is also part of the training complex. Literally it means wrestling place, but the Palaistra was also used for training in boxing and long jump. The Greeks did the latter from standing with dumbbells in their hands, not with a long run-up like today. The contours of the square-shaped Palaistra with colonnades and rooms around are easily recognisable. Thanks to restoration, some of the columns are complete.
Suddenly there is a screeching sound of a referee’s whistle. A guard has noticed a violation of the rules. A middle-aged man with an all but athletic figure stands on the stump of an ancient column. Smiling, he poses for a photograph.
Workshop of Pheidias
One of the seven wonders of the ancient world was created in this workshop. The sculptor Pheidias created the enormous cult statue of Zeus around 430 BC. Sitting on a throne, the statue’s crown nearly touched the 13-metre-high roof in the Temple of Zeus.
The statue of Zeus no longer exists. After the last ancient Olympic Games, it was moved to Constantinople. There it was later lost to a fire. On the foundations of Pheidias’ workshop a basilica was built in the 4th century AD. That mix of ancient workshop and basilica can be seen in today’s remains. Very appropriately, work is still being done in the workshop, now on the restoration.
Leonidaion
Most visitors to the Olympics had to camp somewhere outside the grounds. The few hotels in Olympia were only for the most affluent visitors. The Leonidaion is Olympia’s largest and most luxurious hotel. Its rooms were situated around a courtyard garden, where guests could seclude themselves from the mob in peace.
Bouleuterion
The Bouleuterion is the council house where the Olympic Council resided and governed over Olympia. It is the building where official meetings were held and where athletes had to register and could appeal against decisions of the referees. The Olympic Council also decided on matters like the construction of buildings and for whom statues were erected.
Temple of Zeus
The Temple of Zeus was Olympia’s most important and impressive structure. Imposingly large and richly decorated. The temple was built of local limestone, finished with white stuco to make it look like marble. For almost 900 years, the temple served in full glory during the Olympic Games. In 426 AD it was set on fire by order of Roman emperor Theodosius II. Weakened by that fire, the temple completely collapsed during later earthquakes.
A number of pillars lie on the ground like fallen piles of checkers. The individual discs are largely intact and still impress with their gigantic size. One pillar has been rebuilt and restored to give an impression of its size. Make sure you visit the Archaeological Museum for a full impression of the Temple of Zeus. In the museum, the marble sculptures from the top gables have been reconstructed from the fragments found.
Monument of the Ptolemaic dynasty
Amidst the ruins of Olympia, there is suddenly one column that is fully restored. It stands proudly above the ruins, as if it were a stand-alone memorial. In reality the pillar was part of a larger monument, funded by and in honour of the Ptolemaic dynasty. It consisted of two such pillars topped with statues of Ptolemy II and Arsinoë II, king and queen of Egypt. This is rather impertinent in a sanctuary meant for worshipping Greek gods. Sponsoring of the construction of the Palaestra possibly led to this tribute.
Crypt
There is a constant coming and going of visitors in the Crypt, the arched tunnel that provides access to the stadium. This was not the case during the ancient Olympic Games. The tunnel was exclusively for athletes, priests and officials. The shape of the upper row of stones shows that the passage was completely covered at the time.
Stadium
The elegant simplicity of the stadium is a great contrast to the splendour in the rest of Olympia. It is a straight track with stone thresholds as start and finish lines, bridging a distance of 600 feet, about 200 metres. This sprint distance was called stadium and is the oldest Olympic athletics discipline. Around the running track are simply slopes for the public, partly natural and partly constructed, blending into the undulating landscape of the Peloponnese.
With a good sense for history, the Olympia stadium was used during the Athens Olympics in 2004, for the shot put competitions.
Nymphaion
The Nymphaion is a large Baroque fountain dating back to the Roman period. The fountain was built around 150 AD, after an aqueduct had been constructed from the hills to Olympia. Thanks to this aqueduct, there was finally a decent water supply during the crowded Olympic Games.
Not much remains of the Nymphaion other than a semicircular foundation against the Kronos hill. Some of the marble statues of the fountain – including a bull – are in the Archaeological Museum of Olympia.
Temple of Hera
The Temple of Hera was built around 600 BC. It is the oldest temple in Olympia and one of the oldest in Greece. Originally it was a temple for Zeus and Hera together, until an even more imposing new temple was built exclusively for Zeus. The Temple of Hera looks tidy. The remains of walls and columns are neatly in place. You are even allowed to walk through the temple’s outer colonnade, a tingling sensation.
Philippeion
The Philippeion was founded in 338 BC by King Philippos II of Macedonia and finished by his son Alexander the Great. The monument is a votive offering to Zeus for successes in sports and military. But with statues of Philippos II, Alexander the Great and some family members, it is also a monument of self-glorification.
The three elegant columns of the round monument catch the eye. The Philippeion was partly restored in 2004/2005, in honour of the Olympic Games in Athens. For this restoration, the Pergamon Museum in Berlin returned parts of the structure to Olympia.
Archaeological Museum
The Archaeological Museum is an extension of the excavation site. It is full of finds too delicate to exhibit among the ruins. The collection is overwhelming, from tools from Pheidias’ workshop to large marble sculptures. Here is a small selection of the highlights in the museum.
Temple of Zeus
Central to the museum is a large hall where the gables of the Temple of Zeus have been reconstructed from the fragments found. On one facade there is fierce fighting, symbolising the Greek fight for freedom against the Persians. On the other facade things are calmer, it is a scene before the start of horse races. It is a special privilege for modern-day visitors to see the richly decorated sculptures up close. The ancient Greeks could not do that, when the facades still rested on the high temple columns.
Bronze objects
One room is filled with an abundance of bronze objects, of all shapes and sizes. They date from the archaic period, the first centuries when the Olympic Games were held. They are beautiful decorative artefacts and, according to historians, all offerings in honour of Zeus. A showcase full of griffins is very intriguing. They are very vividly depicted, as if they once really existed. A strikingly cheerful piece or art is the bust of a woman with a wing. It looks like she laughingly rolls her muscles.
Nike of Paionios
Even without a face and without wings, the statue of Nike is a dashing appearance. The iconic statue of the goddess of victory was created by sculptor Paionios. Nike stood in a prominent place near the Temple of Zeus, on a nine-metre high pedestal. The lower part of this remarkable triangular pillar can be seen at the excavation site.
Statues of Nymphaion
Yes, water flowed in the fountain, but the Nymphaion was above all a sculpture gallery. In a semicircle around the fountain were two floors of statues. Above were statues of Herodes Atticus, the initiator of aqueduct, and his family. The lower floor was for statues of three Roman emperors and their families. In the middle of the fountain was the statue of a bull. The text on the bull tells that the fountain was dedicated by Regilla, wife of Herodes Atticus and priestess of Demeter. Of course, the fountain was dedicated to the supreme god Zeus.
The museum houses a number of the statues from the Nymphaion, with the bull rightly in the middle of the room.
Gargoyles
On a dead-end outdoor gallery next to the museum are large pieces that did not make it into the collection. They stand orphaned, the saturated visitors pay no attention to them. Yet there is a fascinating row of lion heads, which served as gargoyles for stylish drainage on the roof of the Temple of Zeus.
Practical information
- The website of the Archaeological Museum of Olympia contains all practical information for visiting both museum and excavation site, such as opening hours and rates. There is also background information on the museum’s collection. The brochure with information about the excavations and the museum of Olympia can also be downloaded from this website.
- There are two car parks for visitors to Olympia, one on the southern edge and one on the eastern edge of the village. The southern car park is apparently the starting point for groups, as it was full of tour buses. We drove on to the eastern car park and it was more spacious and quieter. Parking is free everywhere.
- A pleasant side effect of the eastern car park is that you first walk past the Archaeological Museum and can buy your ticket there. This is much quieter than the ticket sales at the excavation site, among busloads of visitors.
- One ticket gives access to both the excavation site and the Archaeological Museum. Note that you can only enter each of them once. At entry, it is checked that the ticket has not been used before. With the ticket, two more museums can be visited: one on the history of the ancient Olympic Games and one on the history of the excavations. Both are located next to the southern car park.
- On the path between excavation site and Archaeological Museum is a café with a divine terrace under the trees. But be warned. Nowhere prices are mentioned and that is for a reason. The reviews on Google speak volumes. For one drink though, we can get over the high prices, because it is such a lovely place.
Sources
Most of the information in this blog is based on two extensive sources.
- Ancient Olympics from KU Leuven. Besides information about the excavations, the website also provides a lot of background on the ancient Olympic Games and sports in ancient Greece.
- Odysseus from the Greek Ministry of Culture and Sports. This website contains very extensive information, especially about the history of the structures at the Olympia excavation site.
Additional sources:
- Restoration of the Temple of Zeus: The A.G. Leventis Foundation
- Restoration of the pillar of the Ptolemaic monument: Archaeology Wiki
- Olympic Games 2004, men’s shot put and women’s shot put in Olympia: Wikipedia