Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
glory. It was begun by Philip II to commemorate his victory at the Battle of
Chaeronea (see p.213), which gave him control over the Greek mainland; the
building may have been completed by his son, Alexander the Great. To the east of
the Hera temple is a small, second-century AD
fountain house
, the gift of the
ubiquitous Herodes Atticus. Beyond, lining a terrace at the base of the Hill of
Krónos, are the
state treasuries
, storage chambers for sacrificial items and sporting
equipment used in the games. They are built in the form of temples, as at Delphi;
the oldest and grandest, at the east end, belonged to Gela in Sicily. In front of the
treasuries are the foundations of the
Metroön
, a
fourth-century BC Doric temple
dedicated to the mother of the gods.
2
The Pelopeion
Between the temples of Hera and Zeus is a grove described by Pausanias, and identified
as the
Pelopeion
. In addition to a cult altar to the Olympian hero, this enclosed a small
mound formed by sacrificial ashes, among which excavations unearthed many of the
terracotta finds in the museum. The sanctuary's principal altar, dedicated to Zeus,
probably stood just to the east.
The Bouleuterion
The ancient ceremonial entrance to the Altis
was on the south side, below a long
stoa
taking up almost the entire east side of the precinct. At the corner was a house
built by the Roman emperor Nero for his stay during the games. He also had the
entrance remodelled as a triumphal arch, fit for his anticipated victories. Through
the arch, just outside the precinct, stood the
Bouleuterion
or council chamber,
where before a great statue of Zeus the competitors took their oaths to observe the
Olympian rules. These were not to be taken lightly: lining the way were bronze
statues paid for with the fines exacted for foul play, bearing the name of the
disgraced athlete, his father and city.
The stadium
The natural focus of the Olympic site is the 200m track of the
stadium
itself, entered
by way of a long arched tunnel. The starting and finishing lines are still there, with the
judges' thrones in the middle and seating ridges banked to either side. Originally
unstructured, the stadium developed with the games' popularity, forming a model for
others throughout the Greek and Roman world. The tiers here eventually
accommodated up to 20,000 spectators, with a smaller number on the southern slope
overlooking the
hippodrome
where the chariot races were held. Even so, the seats were
reserved for the wealthier strata of society. The ordinary populace - along with slaves
and all women spectators - watched the events from the Hill of Krónos to the north,
then a natural, treeless grandstand. The stadium was unearthed only in World War II,
during a second phase of German excavations between 1941 and 1944, allegedly on
the direct orders of Hitler.
The museum
May-Oct Mon noon-7.30pm, Tues-Sun 8am-7.30pm; Nov-April Mon 10.30am-5pm, Tues-Sun 8.30am-5pm • €6
Olympia's site
museum
lies a couple of hundred metres north of the sanctuary. It
contains some of the finest Classical and Roman sculptures in the country, all
superbly displayed.
The most famous of the individual sculptures are the
head of Hera
and the
Hermes of
Praxiteles
, both dating from the fourth century BC and discovered in the Temple of
Hera. The Hermes is one of the best preserved of all Classical sculptures, and remarkable
in the easy informality of its pose; it retains traces of its original paint. On a grander
scale is the
Nike of Paionios
, which was originally 10m high. Though no longer
complete, it hints at how the sanctuary must once have appeared, crowded with statuary.