Olympia

 Ah, Olympia, the birthplace of the Olympic Games.  Yes, we went to the place where the Olympic Games began!  The ruins at Olympia are not just the field where the original Olympics were held, but also a training area, village, and, of course, temples to the gods.

The Philippeion ruin you see upon entering Olympia. 

This is Hera's Temple.  You could actually walk right on through it!

See?!

Do you see that green area in the midst of the rope?  That, my friends is Hera's alter and where they light the Olympic torch.  Yes, it is still lit there!

The Palaestra - it's where the Olympians trained!

 

This is the closest I will ever get to training for the Olympics...

The entrance to...

The field where the first Olympic games were held!  Do you see the square areas on each side of the field?  The judges sat in the one on the right-hand side, and the other was the alter of Demeter (goddess of the harvest).  I may have the sides mixed up, but you get my drift.

These kids were racing on the field.

This little turtle was drawn in the dirt behind the start line :)

The Temple of Zeus - we weren't allowed up there.  There were steps, and you could tell they used to let people up there.  We really wanted to get a closer look, but between the ropes blocking off the stairs, the security man wandering up there, and his dog, we figured it wasn't a good idea.  Since Chris is tall, he held his camera up and managed to get this picture...it's something!

Temple of Zeus - The pieces of the pillar that are laying on the ground are huge!  The photos really don't do its sheer massiveness justice.

This is a picture of the statue of Zeus that used to be in his Temple at Olympia.  Sadly, it was destroyed :(

Some objects from the museums at Olympia:

Look at all the cute little animal figures!

I believe this is a bronze griffen...

I love the lions.  I can't help myself!

See?  The details are just so amazing!

 
 

I hesitate to call this 'traditional' Greek pottery, but that's what I'm going to do.  There were a lot of VERY well preserved vases in many of the museums - again, the details were amazing.

An old helmet, front and center, with some statuary behind.

I'll leave you with some parting pictures of the grounds: