Olympia — Uncover the Forbidden Olympiad

Your journey begins at the Gymnasium of Olympia, a vast complex built in the 4th century BC, measuring 124 m x 46 m, used for preliminary races and training of Olympic athletes. Here, you observe the complete foundations exposed during the 1876 excavations, including covered porticoes essential for exercises in bad weather. It was in this place that competitors physically and mentally prepared before stepping onto the track of the Olympia Stadium, the birthplace of the first athletic celebrations around 776 BC. This ancient archaeological site is a testament to the prestige of the Games.

Your quest then leads you to the Temple of Zeus, erected between 470 and 456 BC by Libon of Elis, with impressive dimensions of 64.12 m x 27.68 m. This temple housed the chryselephantine statue of Zeus, a work by Phidias, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, standing 12 m high. The Doric pillars, 13 to the east and 6 to the west, as well as the sculpted pediments by Paionios and Alkamenes, depict Pelops' chariot race. This monument, destroyed by earthquakes in the 5th-6th centuries AD, remains a symbol of Hellenic heritage. Nearby, Phidias' Workshop, built around 430 BC and identified by a dedicatory inscription, reveals tools and clay molds discovered during the 1954-1958 excavations. Phidias worked there until his exile in 432 BC, leaving behind the remains of the clay mixing tub for the statue.

The Stadium of Olympia, built around 776 BC, is your next stop. This iconic site of the first ancient Olympic Games measures 212.54 m long and could accommodate 45,000 spectators. You will see the stone starting line, dating from the 4th century BC, with its 16 notches for runners. This stadium hosted chariot races until the prohibition of the Games by Emperor Theodosius I in 393 AD. German excavations led by Ernst Curtius from 1875 revealed its intact structure, making this place a must-see for your visit to Olympia and a UNESCO World Heritage site since 1989.

Continue to the Temple of Hera (Heraion), built around 600 BC and rebuilt in stone around 460 BC. This oldest Doric temple in Olympia, 18.75 m x 50 m, is remarkable for its columns initially made of oak wood, gradually replaced by marble. It housed Hera's gold and ivory table and the Disc of Kypselos, treasures of the Olympic Games, and was the site of Hera's mystical nuptials each year. The Philippeion, erected by Philip II of Macedon after the Battle of Chaeronea in 338 BC and completed by Alexander the Great, is a circular monument 15 m in diameter, with 18 Ionic columns of ivory marble. It contained chryselephantine statues of the Macedonian royal family by Leochares, symbolizing Hellenic unification under the Argeads.

Finally, your journey in Olympia leads you to the Palaestra, built around 380 BC for wrestlers' training, with its inner courtyard measuring 52.60 m x 50 m. Equipped with basins for oiling athletes and rooms for philosophical instruction, it was linked to pugilism and pankration competitions. German excavations in 1881 revealed its pools and exedrae. The Bouleuterion, built in the late 5th century BC, was the meeting hall for the 800 Hellanodikai (judges of the Games), with a capacity of 70-90 people and stone stands. This administrative center of the ancient Olympic Games, whose remains were excavated in 1907, completes your exploration of the Peloponnese heritage. This thematic circuit through Ancient Olympia offers an interactive and immersive visit to the heart of the Games' history.