Tuesday 7 June 2016

ANCIENT OLYMPIA, GREECE

Olympia (Greek: Ὀλυμπία), a sanctuary of ancient Greece in Elis on the Peloponnese peninsula, is known for having been the site of the Olympic Games in classical times. The Olympic Games were held every four years throughout Classical Antiquity, from the 8th century BC to the 4th century AD. The first Olympic Games were in honour of Zeus.

The sanctuary, known as the Altis, consists of an unordered arrangement of various buildings. Enclosed within the temenos (sacred enclosure) are the Temple of Hera (or Heraion/Heraeum), the Temple of Zeus, the Pelopion, and the area of the altar, where the sacrifices were made. 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 ivory and gold statue of Zeus that used to stand there, 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 Alfeios River and south of Mount Kronos (named after the Greek deity Kronos). The Kladeos, a tributary of the Alfeios, flows around the area.

This post is part of the Our World Tuesday meme,
and also part of the Ruby Tuesday meme,
and also part of the Trees & Bushes meme,
and also part of the Travel Tuesday meme,
and also part of the Wordless Wednesday meme.















6 comments:

  1. Spectacular ... and thank you once again for the information you share. It gives the pictures more meaning though they are awesome as they are. Did you get a sense of the history when you visited this wonderful place. Our Olympics and our democracies are grounded in Greece ... Simply Beautiful :)

    Andrea @ From the Sol

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  2. Interesting photos with an interesting time perspective.
    Thanks for sharing at http://image-in-ing.blogspot.com/2016/06/circa-1953-and-now.html

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  3. beautiful pictures thanks for sharing the pictures with us very interesting I loved seeing them
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  4. Very interesting history. I'd like to return to Greece someday and see more of the countryside.

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  5. We went there a few years ago and loved it though it was super hot that day and we were sweating buckets.
    http://travelingbugwiththreeboys-kelleyn.blogspot.com/

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  6. I have been there once but was on a tour with limited time, so, did not really see much of it. Looks great :)

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