Olympia

Since we had only a few hours in port today we took the included tour to the site of the Original Olympic Games. This site was a religious sanctuary where the ancient Olympic Games were held every four years from the 8th century BC to the 4th century AD.

The games were dedicated to Zeus. A very large temple was built in his honor. The statue housed in the temple was considered one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient world. Today the temple is in ruin but the site is very impressive.

There are many ruined buildings on this site. They include gymnasiums and other training sites, bathhouses, many temples and treasury buildings.

The stadium was a flat rectangular area surrounded by a sloping hillside. Spectators would stand or sit to watch the athletic competitions, including running races, wrestling, boxing, javelin throwing and discus throwing.

There was a fabulous museum on site where we learned more details about the games and their participants. Many of the statues, ritual offerings and pottery from the site were well preserved. It helped us better understand the ancient games and the spirit of the culture that created the games.

It was a wonderful day. I didn’t realize that the ancient Greeks were so dedicated to human competition for such a very long time. It was eye opening and gave me a deeper appreciation of the legacy of the Olympic Games.

By Patty

Interestingly, Michelangelo used the statue of Hermes as model for his statue of David.もっと詳しく