Ancient Olympia

A place where Gods are still alive is the Ancient Olympia Archeological site. A place where every civilized man must visit at least once in his life. next to Mount Κronos lies the Olympic complex devoted to Zeus.

“Olympia lies in the wide valley of the rather small Alfeiós River (also Romanized as Alpheus, Alpheios) in the western part of the Peloponnese, today around 18 kilometers away from the Ionian Sea, but in antiquity perhaps half that distance.^[3] The name Altis was derived from a corruption of the Elean word also meaning “the grove” because the area was wooded, olive and plane trees in particular.^[4] The Altis, as the sanctuary was originally known, was an irregular quadrangular area more than 200 yards (183 meters) on each side and walled except to the North where it was bounded by the Kronion (Mount Kronos).^[5]According to Pausanias there were over 70 temples in total, as well as treasuries, altars, statues, and other structures dedicated to many deities.^[6] Somewhat in contrast to Delphi, where a similar large collection of monuments were tightly packed within the tenemos boundary, Olympia sprawled beyond the boundary wall, especially in the areas devoted to the games.
The Altis consists of a somewhat disordered arrangement of buildings, the most important of which are the Temple of Hera (or Heraion/Heraeum), the Temple of Zeus, the Pelopion, and the area of the great altar of Zeus, where the largest sacrifices were made. There was still a good deal of open or wooded areas inside the sanctuary.
To the north of the sanctuary can be found the Prytaneion and the Philippeion, as well as the array of treasuries representing the various city-states. The Metroon lies to the south of these treasuries, with the Echo Stoa to the east. The hippodrome and later stadium were located east of the Echo Stoa. To the south of the sanctuary is the South Stoa and the bouleuterion, whereas the palaestra, the workshop of Pheidias, the gymnasion, and the Leonidaion lie to the west.
Olympia was also known for the gigantic chryselephantine (ivory and gold on a wooden frame) statue of Zeus that was the cult image in his temple, sculpted by Pheidias, which was named one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World by Antipater of Sidon. Very close to the Temple of Zeus which housed this statue, the studio of Pheidias was excavated in the 1950s. Evidence found there, such as sculptor’s tools, corroborates this opinion. The ancient ruins sit north of the Alpheios River and south of Mount Kronos (named after the Greek deity Kronos). The Kladeos, a tributary of the Alpheios, flows around the area.”                                                                                                  info from wiki

The Museum

“The Archaeological Museum of Olympia, one of the most important museums in Greece, presents the long history of the most celebrated sanctuary of antiquity, the sanctuary of Zeus, father of both gods and men, where the Olympic games were born. The museum’s permanent exhibition contains finds from the excavations in the sacred precinct of the Altis dating from prehistoric times to the Early Christian period. Among the many precious exhibits the sculpture collection, for which the museum is most famous, the bronze collection, the richest collection of its type in the world, and the large terracottas collection, are especially noteworthy.

The museum building comprises exhibition rooms, auxiliary spaces and storerooms. The vestibule and twelve exhibition rooms contain objects excavated in the Altis. The auxiliary spaces (caf?, lavatories) are located in the museum’s east wing; a separate building between the museum and the archaeological site houses a book and souvenir shop. Finally, part of the east wing and the basement are dedicated to storage and conservation of terracottas, bronze, stone, mosaics and minor objects.

The Archaeological Museum of Olympia, supervised by the Seventh Ephorate of Prehistoric and Classical Antiquities, was reorganized in 2004 to meet modern museological standards.”