Birthplace of the Olympic Games - Olympia, Greece

 

Olympic Stadium

The reason many sailors make a stopover in Katakolo is because of its close proximity to ancient Olympia. We were surprised to find that the birthplace of the Olympic Games was in the Peloponnese, far from Mt. Olympus in the northern part of the country.  But how convenient for us as we were able to literally walk a few steps from Talaria (at the municipal marina) to the train stop to board the train for Olympia.  The train stop was just the other side of the parking lot!  

Walkway to the Stadium

 The sanctuary of Olympia is vast and a bit hard to decipher.  Although the ruins of various structures remain it takes some imagination to see it as it once was.  The stadium itself was a bit of a surprise it was smaller than I imagined and there was no seating.  Spectators just sat on the sloping ground to the sides of the stadium.  There is an archway that the athletes walked through to enter the stadium but it was hard to get a photo as there were, of course, tons of people from two huge cruise ships here at the same time as us.  

Temple of Hera

 We now think of this site simply in terms of the Olympic games but it was also a major religious site.  Sacrifices were made to the Gods here prior to the games in a dedicated sacrificial site.  Both the Olympic games and sanctuary flourished until the decision was made to squash pagan religions.  In 426 AD,  emperor Theodosius II closed all ancient sanctuaries and the Olympic Sanctuary fell by the wayside.  With that the Olympic games came to an end.  The games were not resurrected until 1894.  The Olympic games of antiquity were only open to athletes that were free Greek men.  Women were not even allowed to watch the games!  When it was decided to resurrect the games athletes from all over the world were invited to participate in order to honor excellence the world over.

Practice area for wrestling and boxing (yes - boxing!)

 The archaeological site consists of practice areas for athletes, administrative type buildings, guest buildings, baths and of course, temples for the Gods.  Without doubt the most important temple was to honor Zeus.  Through the ages the sanctuary was built up and monuments to honor different leaders were constructed - such as the one for Alexander the Great and his father King Philip.  

 

What is left of the Temple of Zeus

 

Monument to honor Alexander the Great and King Philip II

 Although the columns, stones and other structures remain on the site the sculptures that were once there have been removed and placed in museums.  There are two museums on the site with the most important one being the one that houses many of the statues.  

The Nike Statue (Winged Victory)

 You could easily spend many, many hours at the site and the museums but we had to catch the last train to Katakolo which limited our time somewhat.  That being said we were able to walk through the entire site and one museum in about three hours.

The Statue Hall

Such an amazing place... we were stunned that so many of the statues and structures have survived so long and look so good.  The sculptures in particular are breathtaking.  If you ever go to visit the site do not miss the Olympia Archaeological Museum - it is a must see!