From Astros, Tripoli – Ancient Olympia 170 km, (2.20 hours)
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Olympia was the most glorious sanctuary of ancient Greece dedicated to Zeus. It was the venue of the Olympic Games which were held in the context of the Olympics.
Olympia was called Altis, meaning Holy Grove. It was built on the north bank of the river Alfeios. There are traces of human presence from the Neolithic period. Initially it was a rural settlement and gradually evolved into the largest religious center of the ancient world.
There was for about a thousand years the ivory statue of Zeus, work of Pheidias, which was known in antiquity as one of the seven wonders of the world. It was 12 m high and consisted of wood inside, but gold, ivory, silver, mountain crystal and semi-precious stones outside.
The starting point of the Olympic Games is placed in 776 BC. and was held every four years. But the Games are already much older, because according to their tradition, Pelopas started, who defeated the king of Pisa Oinomao in a chariot race. The various buildings, of religious and secular character, were gradually erected until the 2nd c. AD the form it has today. The oldest building is the temple of Hera and the newest is Nymphaeum. In Roman times, many buildings were completed and rebuilt as the Romans continued the games without interruption.
The operation of the sanctuary continued normally during the first Christian years during the reign of Constantine the Great. In 393 AD The last Olympic Games took place and a little later the Byzantine emperor Theodosius I, by his decree, banned their performance because they were considered pagan, while during Theodosius II, the final destruction of the sanctuary took place (426 AD). [2 ]
Olympia, Greece – Wikipedia
Summer Games
• Athens (Greece) 1896
• Paris (France) 1900
• St. Louis (USA) 1904
• Athens (Greece) 1906 (unofficial Olympiad to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the revival of the Olympic Games)
• London (United Kingdom) 1908
• Stockholm (Sweden) 1912
• Antwerp (Belgium) 1920
• Paris (France) 1924
• Amsterdam (Netherlands) 1928
• Los Angeles (USA) 1932
• Berlin (Germany) 1936
• London (United Kingdom) 1948
• Helsinki (Finland) 1952
• Melbourne (Australia) 1956
• Rome (Italy) 1960
• Tokyo (Japan) 1964
Mexico City (Mexico) 1968
• Munich (Germany) 1972
• Montreal (Canada) 1976
• Moscow (Russia) 1980
• Los Angeles (USA) 1984
Seoul (South Korea) 1988
• Barcelona (Spain) 1992
Atlanta (USA) 1996
• Sydney (Australia) 2000
• Athens (Greece) 2004
• Beijing (China) 2008
• London (United Kingdom) 2012
• Rio de Janeiro (Brazil) 2016
• Tokyo (Japan) in July 2021)
• Paris (France) 2024
• Los Angeles (USA) 2028
• Brisbane (Australia) 2032\
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