HISTORY

Olympia the birthplace of the Olympics that was a sanctuary dedicated to Zeus. The first games were held in the 2^nd millennium B.C. and had a local character. In 776 B.C. the first Panhellenic games were organized in Olympia because during the games all the wars between the Greek city-states had to stop, so there was peace around Greece.

The games were held in every 4 years. In the beginning, they lasted for a day since the athletes could participate in one foot-race. Later on in the 5^th B.C, c. the games lasted for 5 days. In the first day many sacrifices dedicated to Zeus were held in the sanctuary. The second, third and fourth were the days that the games were held in the stadium and the hippodrome. And the fifth it was the day that the Olympic winners were finally crowned with a wreath that they made from a brunch of an olive three.

The games continued to take place during the Greek and Roman era until the 4^th A.D. c. In 393 A.D. Theodosius I abolished the games because the Christian faith was established in the Roman Empire.

From the 4^th A.D. c. we had to wait until the 19^th c. in 1896 when the first modern games were held at the Panathenaic stadium of Athens and were organized by a Frenchman Baron Pierre De Coubertin.

ARCHEOLOGICAL SITE
In the archeological site of Olympia you will see the buildings where the athletes used to train. The workshop of Pheidias where the well-known sculpture Pheidias curved the Ivory Gold statue of Zeus, one of the 7 wonders of the ancient world. In the sanctuary you will see the temple of Zeus, the temple of Hera and the place to where the ceremony of the lighting of the Olympic Games takes place in every 4 years. And finally you will enter the stadium to where the games were held.
 
MUSEUM
Next to the site you can find the archeological museum to where exhibits found in the site are presented. The most important is the statue of Hermes of Praxiteles. The second museum you can find there is the museum of the History of the Games, where you can find exhibits that have to do with athletes and the Games of the Greek antiquity.