Stadium of Ancient Olympia

As well as being a hugely symbolic location for the Olympic Movement, the Stadium of Ancient Olympia also hosted the shot-put event in the 2004 Summer Olympics.

The Olympic flame of the modern-day Olympic Games is lit by reflection of sunlight in a parabolic mirror at the restored Olympia stadium and then transported by a torch to the place where the games are held.

Olympia, a sanctuary of ancient Greece in Elis, is known for having been the site of the Olympic Games in classical times, comparable in importance to the Pythian Games held in Delphi. Both games were held every olympiad (i.e. every four years), the Olympic Games dating back possibly further than 776 BC. In 394 emperor Theodosius I, or possibly his grandson Theodosius II in 435, abolished them because they were reminiscent of paganism.

The sanctuary itself consists of an unordered arrangement of various buildings. To the north of the sanctuary can be found the prytaneion and the Philippeion, as well as the array of treasuries representing the various city states. The metroon lies to the south of these treasuries, with the Echo Stoa to the East. To the south of the sanctuary is the South Stoa and the Bouleuterion, whereas the West side houses the palaistra, the workshop of Pheidias, the Gymnasion and the Leonidaion. Enclosed within the temenos are the temples of Hera and Zeus, the Pelopion and the area of the altar, where the sacrifices were made. The hippodrome and later stadium were also to the East.

Olympia is also known for the gigantic ivory and gold statue of Zeus that used to stand there, sculpted by Pheidias, which was named one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World by Antipater of Sidon. Very close to the temple of Zeus (see photo of ruins below) which housed this statue, the studio of Pheidias was excavated in the 1950s. Evidence found there such as sculptor’s tools, corroborates this opinion.

Excavation of the Olympia temple district and its surroundings began with a French expedition in 1829. German archaeologists continued the work in the latter part of the 19th century. The latter group uncovered, intact, the Hermes of Praxiteles statue, among other artifacts. In the middle of the 20th Century, the stadium where the running contests took place was excavated.

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Olympia wikipedia entry
The Olympic Movement

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