Anyone can “run the Olympics” here and many travelers do just that.
The site of the original Olympic Games, the wooded valley of Olympia was the symbol of all that was good and wholesome in ancient Greece. Its influence was so great that the Greeks based their four-year calendar on Olympiads. The first Olympiad was in the year we now call 776 B.C.
The original Olympic winners receives little more than a crown of sacred olive leaves for their accomplishments. There were no winter Olympics-just the summer games. Women and foreigners were prohibited, and the athletes completely naked.
Eventually the Olympics became corrupted, but it took nearly a thousand years and a conquering Roman Empire to do it.
Many who visit the remains of the ancient sanctuary today do so on shore excursions from cruise ships. They usually anchor off nearby Katakolon on the west coast of Peloponnese, the huge peninsula that forms the southern port of Greece. But some travelers make their way by car to the site and then spend the better part of a day wandering among the fallen stones and roofless columns. There are several hotels in the area for those who want to remain overnight.
English-speaking guides are available to conduct one-hour tours through the ruins, providing the basic facts of the place. Then they turn their charges loose in the nearby museum. Travelers who have enough time like to browse around the area on their own, finding some deserted, weed-covered nook from which to contemplate the ruins and to imagine the great personages and grand events that came to pass here.
Olympia was named for Mt. Olympus, the 10,000 peak 500 miles to the north and whose cloud-draped summit was thought to be the home of the gods. In ancient times, Olympia was not a town but a religious sanctuary dedicated to Zeus, king of the gods. The largest structure in the complex, the Temple of Zeus. contained a chryselephantine (gold and ivory) statue of Zeus, which was then considered one of the seven wonders of the world.
The heroic figure was created within the compound of Phidias, the same talented sculptor who also turned out the statue of Diana, which stood in the Parthenon in Athens. The atmospheric ruins of his workshop (which later became a Byzantine church) may be explored today.
The second largest building was the Temple of Hera, the jealous wife of Zeus. Its ruins now play a part in the modern-day Olympics since it is on Hera’s alter that the Olympic torch is lit every four years. Subsequently it is carried, whether by foot, airplane or laser beam, to the site of the games.
There are ruins of several more structures of interest to scholars, but one of the most intriquing sites for visitors, especially those with an excess of energy, is the stadium. There are never any “seats,” as such-only grassy artificial banks, which have now been restored along with the original track. The starting and finishing blocks are still embedded in the ground.
The original Olympic event was simply a 200-yard dash. The length of the track is one “stade” or 600 feet. Legend has it that it was laid out by Hercules, who is considered the founder of the Games.
Once every four years, during the hottest days of July, fighting between the warring Greek states ceased and the athletes conducted a last month of training at the facilities in Olympia. The Games generally took five days. Besides running the stades, events included boxing, wrestling and the pancratium-a combination of boxing and wrestling.
The conquest of Greece by Rome in 146 B.C. foreshadowed the end of the traditional Olympics, even though they continued in some form a few centuries longer. Romans joined the Greeks in competition, and eventually the events were opened up to foreigners. The Romans introduced many kinds of contests, including some so violent they resulted in the death of participants.
The Olympics were abolished by the Christian Roman emperor Theodosius I in A.D. 393, capping an imposing run of nearly 12 centuries, and the sanctuary of Olympus was ordered closed. Later, earthquakes and landslides caused the area to be covered, and the site was virtually forgotten by the Middle Ages. Excavations began to be carried out by German archeologists in the 19th Century, and this work continues today.
Today’s Olympics are a relative youngster. This year marks the 100th anniversary of the 1894 International Congress for Athletics in Paris, at which Baron Pierre de Coubertin outlined his plan for the modern Games, which then began two years later, in 1896, in Athens.
There are no statues of Greek heroes within the compound. (A few broken figures are in the museum.) Some pedestals remain on the site, each with inspirational inscriptions on their sides but with empty footprints on top.
The only outdoor statue at Olympia is that of Baron Coubertin, now considered the father of the Olympics. His heart was preserved in a glass jar, which was buried next to the monument.
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In general, hotels and ground-level museums and shops in Greece are fairly wheelchair accessible, according to a spokeswoman from New Directions, a non-profit organization that arranges tours for disabled travelers; for information, call 805-967-2841.
