Ancient Olympia
Amongst the farmland and countryside of the western Pelopennese peninsula, there’s a small village that was once the most celebrated sacred site of Ancient Greece. This is Olympia.
Ancient Olympia is the birthplace of the Olympic Games. Every four years throughout Classical antiquity it was a destination for Greeks, who suspended their hostilities and united in games of sportsmanship, fair competition and noble rivalry. It is a monument to the ideals of peace, justice and progress. At the Temple of Hera, the oldest and best-preserved temple at Olympia, the flame for the modern-day Olympic Games is lit by reflection of sunlight in a parabolic mirror.
The kids relished running on the same track where athletes raced for glory millennia ago, setting off from the original stone starting lines that are still in place. This course for footraces was exactly one ‘stade’ in length; a word that also came to refer to the race itself, and where the races where held. It is the origin of the modern English word stadium.
But more than that, it was a sacred site of cultural significance. This famed archaeological site once held over 750 significant buildings. At its heart was the Temple of Zeus, King of the Gods. It is here that his massive statue stood; four-storeys tall and made of ivory and gold. It was so impressive that it was named one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. But alas, the giant seated figure was lost and destroyed long ago during the 5th Century CE.
While the ruins of many of these buildings survive, excavations are still ongoing. The onsite museum is one of the most important museums in the country, and the first Greek museum built outside of Athens. It houses tens of thousands of artefacts (including the largest collection of ancient Greek weapons in the world, and one of the most important bronze collections in the world). Most impressive though are the pediments and metopes of the Temple of Zeus, and the sculpture of ‘Nike of Paionios’, one of the most famous statues in the history of art.
What a privilege to set foot in a place of such historical and mythological importance. Visiting Ancient Olympia was an unmissable experience, and one that will stay with us for a long time to come.
