Ancient Olympia

Ancient Olympia lies in the western Peloponnese, in the region of Elis, set in a gentle wooded valley where the rivers Alfeios and Kladeos meet, some sixteen kilometres inland from the Ionian coast. This was not a city but a sanctuary, the greatest cult centre of the god Zeus, and from 776 BC it hosted the Olympic Games every four years for more than a thousand years. A UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1989, it is one of the most significant archaeological landscapes in Greece.

At the heart of the site is the Altis, the sacred grove, where the ruins stand among pines and wildflowers. Here are the massive fallen column drums of the Temple of Zeus, which once held Phidias's colossal gold-and-ivory statue of the god, counted among the Seven Wonders of the ancient world. Nearby rise the older Temple of Hera, where the Olympic flame is still lit today by the sun's rays for each modern Games, the circular Philippeion raised by the family of Alexander the Great, and the workshop where Phidias built his masterpiece. A stone-arched tunnel leads into the Stadium, whose grassy running track and earthen banks for spectators survive intact.

The adjacent Archaeological Museum of Olympia is essential, and for many visitors the highlight. Its galleries hold the sculptures from the Temple of Zeus, the exquisite Hermes of Praxiteles, the winged Nike of Paionios and the richest collection of ancient bronzes in the world, giving faces and detail to the stones outside.

Most travellers visit as a day trip. The modern village of Archaia Olympia sits beside the site with hotels, tavernas and cafes, and makes a pleasant overnight base. Pyrgos, the regional capital, lies about twenty kilometres west, and the cruise port of Katakolo is linked to Olympia by a scenic branch railway, which is why the site fills with cruise passengers on summer mornings.

Spring and autumn are ideal, when the valley is green or golden and the open ruins can be walked in comfort. Aim to arrive early or late in high summer to escape both the heat and the tour groups, and allow half a day at least for the site and its museum together.