Travel Secrets by V

A Little Bit Of History

The construction of the Temple of Olympian Zeus began in 520 BC by Hippias, the son of tyrant Peisistratus. The construction was abandoned in 510 BC when the tyrant was overthrown and Hippias was expelled from the city. By this time they had only finished the foundation and the base of a few columns. It remained this way for 336 years until king Antiochus IV Epiphanes decided to build a completely new temple on top of the same platform. The design was changed from Doric to Corinthian by architect Decimus Cossutius. The new design was changed to three rows of eight columns on the front and back and two rows of twenty columns on each side for a total of 104 columns. They were able to build half of the temple before Antiochus died in 164 BC. Once again the construction was put to a halt.

289 years later in 124-125 AD emperor Hadrian visited the city and started a massive rebuilding project which included the Temple of Olympian Zeus. It was formally dedicated by Hadrian in 132 AD.

The largest building in Greece at the time

The temple of Olympian Zeus became the largest building in Greece at the time. It also housed one of the largest cult statues in the ancient world. It was a giant statue of Zeus made out of gold and ivory. The glory however, was short-lived. A century later in 267 the Heruli invaded and pillaged the temple to ruins. It was never repaired instead, parts of it were used as building supplies for other projects within the city.

What Remains

Only sixteen of the original columns remain. Fifteen are still standing, the sixteenth one was knocked down during a storm in 1852. It was excavated for the first time in 1889-1896 by Francis Penrose.

Must See!

Located on the northeast corner of the temple of Olympian Zeus is Hadrian’s Arch. It was built in 131 AC to commemorate the Roman Emperor. It is a 59 ft. arch(18 meters)that once separated the old city of Theseus and the new city of Hadrian.

Tours

Tours are a great way to visit the sites in Athens.  They will pick you up at your hotel and drive you to the site. There is a driver and a guide and the guide will give you all sort of information about the history and culture. Once you arrive at the site, he will already have your entry tickets ready. He will give you a guided tour of the site pointing on special features that you may not have noticed on your own as well as tell you all about them. You will then have some free time to explore the site on your own after which you will be taken to a location for lunch and once the tour is over, they will take you back to your hotel.

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