The Ancient Olympia

The original Olympics began as a small regional festival in the 11th century, which was dedicated to the God Zeus. The first Olympic Games were held in 776 BC and reached their height of popularity in 576 BC. Every four years for more than a millennium, rival and often warring city-states put aside their differences and invoked a sacred truce. They sent their fastest, their strongest, their most skillful men and boys to compete for personal bragging rights and homeland pride. The names of the greatest Olympic athletes were known throughout Greece and their likenesses was recreated in sculpture and on pottery.

The events included foot races, wrestling, discus, javelin, long-jump, horse and chariot racing, and pancratium. The games were banned in 426 by the emperor Theodosius II because they were pagan, and the temples were destroyed. The Olympics were reborn in 1896 in Athens. Since then, they've traveled to cities around the world. In 2004, they'll come home once again to Greece.

Because of the destruction of the site by Theodosius and several earthquakes, there is not much left in the way of buildings besides foundations, steps and columns but these are impressive and are in a beautiful setting near the Kladeos river. The area is called The Altis which means the area sacred to Zeus. The most outstanding building is the 5th Century Temple of Zeus, built by Livon, which contained the 12 m high statue by Phideas, one of the seven wonders of the ancient world, which was removed to Constantinople by Theodocious and destroyed in a fire.

The stadium could seat at least 20,000 people and was the largest of its kind. The Temple of Hera is where the Olympic Flame is lit from the sun and then taken by runners to light the torch wherever the games are being held, a tradition which dates all the way back to 1936AD. The museum is across the road and contains the 4th Century BC statue of Hermes by Praxiteles, the Nike of Victory by Paeonios (according to the legend, she used to come down from the sky to hand a palm leaf to the winners), and a number of other finds from the excavations.

In the south of Olympia there is the Temple of Bassae, one of the finest temples in Greece, and it sits on top of a mountain plateau. Dedicated to Apollo Epicurus it was built around 420 BC by the Phygeleans in thanks for being spared of a cholera epidemic during the Peloponesian wars. The temple was discovered in 1765 and is one of the most well perserved.