There were no cruise ships in town today (tourist sites otherwise clogged to the hilt), so Jan, Kate, Trip and I hopped on the train to Olympia, home of the original Olympic Games.
Olympia is pretty isolated in the Pelopenese, but it is considered one of the most important religious and athletic centers of the Ancient Greek world. It was here that some of the greatest monuments to the gods were interspersed with the home of the Olympic Games. The original Zeus sanctuary has existed since 10th century BC, and the games were established in 786 BC.
Though the entire site is in ruins from a combination of neglect and massive earthquakes, it’s still easy to see the compound that once existed. Particularly amazing is to watch the archeological work still underway. (Fun fact, Jan, who worked on an archeological project as part of his PhD, explained that archeology is supposed to be conducted in phases so that the next generation has a chance to explore and uncover, which is important as our understanding of history evolves.).
As you walk through the site, you explore the temples to the gods (Hera and Zeus being the most notable buildings) as well as the buildings where the components of the temples were created. You also get to see the primary and secondary buildings needed to support the Olympic Games, such as baths, gymnasiums, apartments, etc. A free app for mobile devices is available to help learn about the individual sites, complete with augmented reality in the form of digitized renderings of the buildings that once stood there. You point your phone at the specific site and you can “see” what it used to look like.
As the heat of the day built, we retreated to the museum where remnants are now stored to prevent further deterioration. Cauldrons, pottery, armor, and other parts of every day life are on display, along with the statues once housed in the temples.
Feeling completely overwhelmed by everything we took in, we rode back to town on the train again. After resting a bit on the boat and waiting for the heat to come down, we went back into town to check out a weekend festival.
We stopped at a local fast food joint for hot dogs and beers, then walked over to another spot for a drink, and wound up at a concert at the festival. It wasn’t the best band we had heard, but it was still entertaining and a good way to spend a Friday night.
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