Ancient Olympia

 

Day 9 – Olympia (Katakolon), Greece   Tuesday, November 11

Tour Title Ancient Olympia - The Site of the First Olympiad


Arriving in the port of Katakolon, a beautiful sunny day with a local temperature of 70 degrees.




From here it was about a 45 minute drive on the buss to Olympia, where you can step back in time to the first Olympic Games and the magnificent setting in which they began. Travelling into the breathtaking fertile valleys of the western Peloponnese, passing olive groves, vineyards and orchards.  On a mountain plain in the shadow of Mt. Kronos, we arrived at Olympia.  According to our guide, excavations here started in 1874 as a joint project between the Greek Government and the German Archiological Institute.

Near the entrance to the site is the former home of the German Archiological Institute.

You walk among the remains of the first Olympic Park, established in 776 BC. The site was divided into three distinct areas, the training area, the sacred area and the competition field.

Due to the significant seismis activity in this area, all of the structures had collapsed and were covered on 15-20 feet of earth



Here in the training area you can see the depth they had to dig to get to the ruins. The upper level to the right in the above  picture in the height of the land that covered the site.




As we moved into the Sacred area (where all the temples were, we come upon the site of the Temple oa Zeus, Which was one of the 7 Wonders on the Ancient World once home to a gold-and-ivory statue of the Greek god. Nearby is the Temple of Hera and circular Philippeion temple


Remains of the Temple of Zeus (the standing column ia a replica)
 


Historical accounts say there were statues on these pedistals (over 250) of them







The Temple of Hera which dates back to the 7th century BC is considered to be the first temple built on this site.



This is where the flame is started using sunlight to light the olympic torch which from this site is carried to wherever the current Olympic games are held.  This actually began for the 1936 Berlin Olympics.




The Entrance to the stadium was through an arched walk


.The stadium, the largest of its day with a capacity of 45,000 spectators.







Other than a small enclosed area there were no seats, spectators sat on the grass on either side of the field.



This temple was erected by Phillip the second (Father of Alexander the Great) after Macedonia conquered the Greeks.

 Afterward, we had some free time to explore Modern Olympia on our own before returning to your ship.




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