The Ruins Of Ancient Olympia
This morning we were out the door by 8:15am to venture out and explore the archeological site of the ruins of ancient Olympia, home of the Olympic Games for over TWELVE CENTURIES! As I post the photos of the ruins we visited I'll note the number on the illustration above for reference (for those of you truly interested!). The photos today are not nearly as breath taking or spectacular but today was more about WHERE we were than what we saw. And to understand what we were looking at was the significance of the day. The bus ride was short, less than forty minutes through the Greek countryside and small villages. And the weather this morning was in the upper 60's - just wonderful, especially for us Florida kids. We walked down the inclined sidewalk to the site - which had been lost for hundreds of years because the two small rivers next to the site had flooded several times and deposited over a dozen feet of silt that had completely buried the site. But in the late 1800's it was discovered and it's been being excavated and restored ever since.
This is the main temple complex, on our left as we arrived at the site
Here is where the original Olympic flame burned continuously for over twelve centuries (WOW) and this is where the winners of the competitions would be awarded their prizes and recognized.
Note on the illustration at the top, all of these places were covered so that the activities went on rain or shine. This is where all the participants trained each day for the month leading up to the competition.....and it was here where it was decided by the judges WHO would compete!
Note the inset (upper right) of what it looked like. This was one of the first "propaganda" displays in history....statutes of the heroes of Greece were in here for all the spectators and visitors to the temple to see on their way to the inside of the complex.
This was one of the largest and most elaborate temples of the ancient world. This one column that is restored took FOUR YEARS to restore, and it would have been one of the "smaller" columns supporting the outer roof of the temple
Note the columns - compared to pic above. The statute of Zeus inside was so enormous, and covered in ivory & gold that it was one of the original Seven Wonders of the World!
This temple dedicated to the wife of Zeus, Hera, was - ironically - the first temple on the site! In it originally was a statute of Hera and one of Zeus.
Doesn't look like much and if I hadn't told you, you'd never have known what this was, right? But it is RIGHT HERE that every two years they have the very elaborate ceremony for the lighting of the Olympic Flame that is then carried to the site of the Summer Games or Winter Games.
Here's a photo from this past April when the torch was lit for the Paris Olympic Games. What's "interesting" is that this ceremony is conducted by a high priestess and her fellow priestesses - but in ancient times women were forbidden from taking any part in the Olympic Games!
Note inset of what this would have looked like. Again, wouldn't think much of this until you think more carefully. With 50,000 spectators arriving for the games and "camping" in the surrounding areas, they would all "use" the two small rivers for "everything" if you get my drift. And so it became a MASSIVE problem to have fresh/clean water for the games....until this fountain was built and fresh water could be brought in - happened during the Roman times.
The enormous amounts of wealth brought in by the Greeks - which financed the expensive building of these temples and elaborate statues - was stored here
Here is the tunnel entrance - originally this was all covered by ground and grass - for the players, trainers and judges. Note the stadium through the entrance.
Note I SO distanced my competition that you can't even see any of my rivals in the photo......WOW, certainly a gold medal performance
Photographed at the stadium entrance, shortly after my historic performance (noting that I didn't even break a sweat - Kim was so proud!)
We left the site and headed to the Tourish Club for a cooking class, a fabulous lunch and then some Greek dancing (and more plate throwing - though FAR fewer plates today LOL). Another wonderful day in Greece. We departed Olympia around 3:30pm - look at the photo below of how gorgeous, of course Kim, but the color of the water! Tomorrow we will arrive in Corfu, Greece where we will explore the town and then have a homemade Greek lunch at a private villa overlooking the Adriatic Sea!
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