Olympia Archeological Site
Katakolon is a relatively new stop on Eastern Mediterranean cruises. Used to be, people would take long day trips from Athens by van or bus in order to visit Olympia. Recently, a decision was made to built a cruise ship terminal and turn the quiet fishing village of Katakolon into a tourist stop.
Olympia is located on the western coast of the Pelloponnes. Olympia consists of two parts actually - the city and the Olympics field above. History indicates women were not originally allowed to watch the games which is why the separation existed. I really wanted to visit Olympia since we were stopping and I am so glad we did! What an amazing trip! Some of the interesting buildings / artifacts we saw included:
Palaestra
The palestra is part of the gymnasium at the sanctuary.
Stadium
The modern day word stadium we know is derived from the Greek word "stadion", a Greek measure of length. The stadium at Olympia is the oldest knwn stadium where the Olympic Games were held since 776 BC. Initially, the Olympic Games consisted of one single event, a sprint which lasted over 13 olympiads. Because of that, the length was more or less standardized as a measure of distance.
By classical times, there were 18 contests, including boxing, wrestling, horse races, and the pentathlon and a few other running events.
*UNDER CONSTRUCTION*
Olympia was the site of the anicent Olympic Games and loated in the western Peloponnisos (Peloponnesus). Fortunately, I visited shortly before the forest fires that plagued this area in mid 2007. Although very warm in the summer, the tour is definitely worth it.
Besides the ability to stand in the original Olympic Stadium, Olympia contains some of the best Greek treasures and artifacts. The museum next door houses some of the main artifacts such as Hermes of Praxiteles, Nike of Paionios, and the most impressive sculptured ornaments from the Temple of Zeus. The pediments are incredible and massive.
Most tour companies offer a walk through tour of Olympia and then admission to the museum which I would recommend visiting first as there is a lot of the history of Olympia explained and then you can visit the site where these artifacts were discovered.
