The Temple of Zeus columns
Vast drums left lying where the earthquake threw them.
**Where the Olympic Games began, and were held for a thousand years** โ in a green valley between two rivers and a pine hill, in the western Peloponnese. The first dated games were held here in **776 BC**, and they continued every four years until they were **banned in the 4th century AD** โ more than **a thousand unbroken years**, a run no sporting institution in history comes near. It was not merely a stadium: it was a **sanctuary of Zeus**, and here stood the **Temple of Zeus**, which held his seated statue in gold and ivory โ **one of the Seven Wonders of the ancient world**, some twelve metres high. The temple today is **fallen columns**, thrown down by an earthquake and left by the excavators where they found them โ a more affecting sight than re-erection would have been. You walk between the older **Temple of Hera**, the **palaestra** where wrestlers trained, the **workshop of Pheidias** where the statue was made, and the **stadium** with its vaulted entrance. โ And the modern **Olympic flame** is still lit here before every games.
Vast drums left lying where the earthquake threw them.
A vaulted passage the athletes walked through to the track.
Where the statue of Zeus was made, later turned into a church.
Archaia Olympia, 27065 Ilia, Greece
**Because they were a pagan festival in an empire that had become Christian โ that is the principal reason.** โ **The context**: the games were not a neutral sporting event but **worship of Zeus**: sacrifices, processions, oaths before his statue, and prizes consecrated to him. Once Christianity became the religion of the Roman state, that was a problem. โ **The decision**: it is traditionally attributed to the emperor **Theodosius I**, who banned pagan rites in the late 4th century, with his successors completing what he began. **The exact date of the last games is uncertain** and the sources conflict โ but the direction is clear. โ **What followed**: the sanctuary was closed and the **statue of Zeus removed** โ one account has it carried to Constantinople, where a fire later destroyed it. Then **earthquakes** brought down the columns and **river floods** buried the site in silt for centuries โ and that silt, incidentally, **is what preserved it** until the 19th-century excavations.
**One night, or a stop on a Peloponnese loop โ not a day trip from Athens.** โ **From Athens**: about **300 km** and **three and a half hours** each way โ seven hours of driving for one day, which does not make sense; day trips are sold but they are punishing. โ **The right arrangement**: make it part of a **Peloponnese circuit**: Athens โ **Nafplio** (Mycenae and Epidaurus) โ **Olympia** โ perhaps **Delphi** via the RioโAntirrio bridge or the ferry. Or spend a night in the small village of **Archaia Olympia** at the site itself. โ **And staying over** lets you enter **at opening**, before the coaches and before the heat โ which changes the whole visit. โ **Cruise ships** dock at **Katakolo**, 35 km away, and their groups come from there โ so if there is a ship in port, expect crowds between 10 and 2.
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