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Olympia is a Greek city located in the western Peloponnese.
It was the stage for the first Olympic games, which the Greeks celebrated
every four years in antiquity. The ruins of the main religious monuments
and buildings associated with the Olympics are still in existence
in Olympia today. |
| Located 198 miles west of Athens, the sanctuary of Olympia
became well-known throughout Greece as the center for the sacred
games, placed under the protection of Zeus, the father of the Gods.
The first Olympic Games took place in 776 BC. The winners' crowns
were prepared in the Heraion (dedicated to Hera). There were a few
votive temples and the Philippeion, a circular building devoted
to Philippe II, the King of Macedonia (in the 6th century BC). Today,
to the east of the Altis, the sacred grove, stand the ruins of the
stadium and the hippodrome, further west, the Palestra or wrestling
academy, and the Leonidaion, the vast inn reserved for officials
of the games... |
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Nowadays, visitors can bathe themselves in the magic of the
place. Even if today the place is really just a field of ruins due,
among other things, to a terrible earthquake in the 6th century,
you'll enjoy putting yourself in the atmosphere of the ancient games.
Imagine yourself throwing the discus or running a foot race in the
immense stadium to the roar and cries of 45,000 spectators. |
In the center of all this, the temple of Zeus provided shelter for one
of the seven wonders of the world, a 40 foot chryselephantine sculpture
of Zeus, sculpted by the artist Phidias around 430 BC. Because the games
were for men only, the athletes had to show their naked bodies, so that
any woman wanting to participate in the games would not fool the judges.
You should know that the only prize that winners received was a crown
made of olive leaves... a long way from the financial rewards of the Olympics
today! The little town of Olympia, located about a mile from the sanctuary,
is still in existence thanks to tourism. Though there isn't much to see
there, it does have two interesting museums: the archeological museum
which displays the objects found at the site during the archeological
digs, and the Olympic Games museum which has displays concerning the history
of the games.
Pirmil. |
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