ANCIENT OLYMPIA

(Alleys in Town)

A small town with some beautiful alleys as I walked from the hotel to the ancient archaeological site of Olympia. The site was well maintained and properly marked. There was still some renovation going on. As you will enter the area on ancient site you will witness many museums. Each museum has a separate entry and there is a combined tickets with how many museum you want to visit. So plan which one to visit and buy tickets accordingly. I visited the Archaeological Museum of Olympia which is just opposite to the archaeological site

(View at Entrance)

It’s the place where the Olympics was born. Olympics was held from 800 BC to 400 BC here.  You will find gymnasium, hostels, olive tree where the winners were awarded, temple of Hera, temple of Zeus, shops and the most important the stadium, etc.



As we enter the archaeological site you will witness the ruins of the city. You could not identify from most of the ruins by seeing what it would be exactly look like and what was it. But still the markings in the site and the description on it gives you a fair idea of what it might be at that period. As we walked through the dusty site we got a feel of how was it at that time.

(Temple of Hera)

As we entered the gate to the stadium it was a huge stadium surrounded by hills and natural beauty. In 2004 one of the Olympic game was held at the stadium. You can run in the stadium and have a feel of it. It is surrounded by mountains and has a breathtaking view. You can even sit in the stadium relax and enjoy the view.

(Olympic Stadium)

After finishing the site we did lunch at the cafeteria in the Archaeological Museum of Olympia and we head to the museum. Outside the site you will even see horse cart ride which you can experience in a beautiful place. It has some beautiful structures from the buildings, statues, pottery. After visiting museum you could easily relate that how they would looked like.

(Structures in Museum)

After visiting the sites we walked back as it was a very tiring day. Nearby you will find some restaurants which offer some good greek food where you can sit and enjoy your evening.

Recommendations:

• I would recommend that you should spend at least a day for the Olympia. It is worth a visit.
• Do wear shoes as you have to walk a lot.
• In summers do carry hat as it is an open site.
• Take enough water with you as inside the site you will not find any cafeteria as they are opposite to the site and inside the museum.

Also Checkout:
Itinerary, Delphi, Meteora, Athens, Mykonos, Santorini, Mycenae, Cornith