Where the Olympic Games Began …

 

What trip to Greece would be complete without a visit to Olympia – the site of the Olympic Games? The date the ancient Olympics began is 776 B.C., and even way back then they were celebrated every four years by the Greeks. Popular myth identifies Heracles and his father Zeus as starting the Olympic Games. Not surprisingly, this ancient archaeological site is recognized as a UNESCO world heritage site, and it is here that the ceremonial lighting of the flame for modern Olympic Games is held.

There was lots of ground to cover in Olympia! Excavations have determined where different sporting events such as discus, wrestling and a foot race took place.  ExcavationDSC_0377 have uncovered the stadium where the foot races were held. Like other visitors, we lined up at the starting blocks and raced the length of the stadium. Here we are at the entrance to the stadium just before we began our foot race where Austin won 1st place! 

 

DSC_0482Before leaving Olympia we visited its Archaeological Museum. In its  bronze collection we saw this statue of a horse, dated early 7th century B.C.

 

We spent time touring the grounds of the ancient Olympic DSC_0470games and learning about their history. During our visit we also saw these remains of the Temple to  Zeus. This temple  is one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World!  Unfortunately, the statue of Zeus, said to be made of ivory and gold plated bronze, did not survive!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Lisbon - World's Leading City Destination 2018

Image
Lisbon is the stunning capital city of Portugal, and voted the World's Leading City Destination and the World's Leading City Break Destination for the World Travel Awards 2018. It certainly has a lot to see and do and we certainly saw and did! We drove in from Evora and dropped the rental car off in the morning leaving us nearly the entire day to spend exploring this ancient capital. As is our habit, we signed up for a walking tour for the afternoon and evening and set off on the 20-minute walk to where the tour started. The tour met and started at the Praça Dom Pedro IV, which Lisboans feel is the main central square of Lisbon and the true heart of the city.  Praça Dom Pedro is often referred simply to its much older name of Rossio which is also where we had caught the train to Sintra on our first day in Portugal. Rossio was founded during the 13th century as the large central square of Lisbon. Here public shows, bull fights, and royal proclamations occurred. During...
Read more

Obidos

Image
The town of Óbidos is located on a hilltop, encircled by a fortified wall. Óbidos remains a well-preserved example of medieval architecture; its streets, squares, walls and its castle are a popular tourist destination. The castle now houses a hotel.  Legend holds that Obidos was founded in 308 BC by the Celts. As the streets of Obidos are very narrow, cars are parked outside the walls -- we were able to park right next to the very cool preserved aqueduct. Originating in Usseira, the aqueduct it is 3 km long. Queen Catarina commissioned its construction In the 16th century, . The water was carried through a great number of high arches which crossed extensive vineyards and orchards and came to provide water to the town's main fountains. The Castle of Obidos has walls that date back to at least the 8th century AD with parts of the walls actually include some of the fortifications of the original settlement that may date back to the 4th century BC.  A interestin...
Read more

Mycenae and the Tomb of Agamemnon …

Image
  Familiar with the history of King Agamemnon, Austin enjoyed visiting the tomb of Agamemnon and the ruins of the palace. Unfortunately, over the years, the tomb has been raided and there were few treasures left to recover.   Agamemnon’s  Mycenaean fortress includes an entry ramp that is a long, steep climb to the infamous lion’s gate entry.  It is said that the gate was intentionally built to be steep so that it would be easier to defend the palace from marauders! Mycenae was considered to be a major centre of Greek civilization from 1600 B.C. to 1100 B.C.   Agamemnon was the commander in the Trojan War to return Helen back to Greece.  Agamemnon prepared a fleet of ships to carry the Greeks to Troy, however the winds were not favourable and he was unable to sail. As Greek mythology unfolds, we learn Agamemnon was ultimately successful in the Trojan war, and Helen was returned to Greece.  The end of the story isn’t that kind for King Agamem...
Read more