Olympia

Olympia lies in the valley of the Alfeios, north of the river and south of the Hill of Kronos, with the Kladeos along its western edge. Pottery from the Pelopion, the tomb of the legendary king Pelops who gave the Peloponnese its name, shows activity from the 11th century BC onwards. By tradition the Games began in 776 BC, and the first major contests at the stadium are said to date from the 720s BC. Held every four years during the festival of Zeus, they drew competitors from across the Greek world; Olympia belonged to the state of Elis, which ran the Games, and the famous truce guaranteed safe passage for visitors rather than peace across Greece.

Pausanias counted more than 70 temples. The Temple of Zeus, built in the second quarter of the 5th century BC, held Pheidias' gold-and-ivory statue of the god, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. Earthquakes heavily damaged the site in the 3rd century AD, but the festival continued until the last Olympiad in 393, after which Theodosius I banned it. The Temple of Zeus was destroyed around 426, plague and earthquakes struck in the 6th century, and repeated floods led to the settlement being abandoned in the early 7th century. Over time the site disappeared under up to 8 metres of deposits.

French archaeologists of the Expédition scientifique de Morée made the first excavations in 1829. The German Archaeological Institute began large-scale digs in 1875, uncovering the Temple of Zeus, the Temple of Hera and the Hermes of Praxiteles, and has been responsible for the site ever since. The first modern torch-lighting ceremony was held here in 1936, and the forest fires of 2007 threatened the town and the site, although no damage was reported.

Olympia's culture is the Olympic idea. The modern flame is lit here every two years, some weeks or months before each Games: women representing the Vestal Virgins kindle it in front of the Temple of Hera with the sun's rays concentrated by a parabolic mirror, and a torch carries it to the host city. Pierre de Coubertin, founder of the International Olympic Committee, has his heart buried at a monument raised here after his death in 1937, and the International Olympic Academy, set up in 1961 at nearby Ancient Pisa, brings students, athletes and educators to study the Olympic ideals.

The ancient Games were a religious festival in honour of Zeus rather than a sport in the modern sense. Women were excluded from competing in or even watching them, with one exception: the priestess of Demeter Chamyne, who took part in the ceremony. The sanctuary was one of the Panhellenic centres that helped the scattered Greek cities see themselves as one people.

Daily custom in the village is that of rural Elis — Orthodox, sociable and family-centred — and visitors are welcome in churches if modestly dressed. At the site itself, the ruins are protected, and visitors are expected not to climb on the stones.

Archaia Olympia was a municipality of its own until 2011, when it was merged with three neighbouring former municipalities; the enlarged municipality, which keeps the name, had about 11,150 residents at the 2021 census, down from about 13,900 in 2011. The village itself is small, a handful of streets of shops, tavernas and places to stay that live largely from visitors to the site.

Around it, the Alfeios valley is fertile farmland growing citrus, grapes and olives, and around Manolada, elsewhere in Elis, strawberry fields are worked largely by migrant workers. The town has a railway station at the end of the branch line from Pyrgos, 20 km away, which is the regional capital and the place for larger shops and services.

The rhythm of the year follows the visitors: busy days from spring to autumn, when coach parties arrive, and a quieter village in winter. Wildfire is the great fear of each summer, and the fires of 2007–2009 burnt the Aleppo pines that covered the Hill of Kronos above the site.

Olympia's food is that of the western Peloponnese, which is olive country. The dark, almond-shaped Kalamata olive is named after a city of the southern Peloponnese, and the Koroneiki is the most common olive for oil in Greece. Hilopites, a pasta of flour, eggs and milk, and trahanas soup belong to the wider Greek kitchen, and diples, strips of dough fried and folded, dipped in honey syrup and topped with walnuts, are a typical Peloponnese dessert, served at weddings and at New Year.

The village tavernas serve the everyday Greek repertoire: meze, small dishes shared around the table and often accompanied by ouzo or tsipouro; souvlaki, small pieces of meat grilled on a skewer and eaten straight off it or in pita; and horiatiki, the Greek salad of tomatoes, cucumbers, onion, feta and olives dressed with oregano, lemon juice and olive oil.

The valley also makes wine. A winery just outside the village produces wines from local grape varieties, and the region's best-known wines come from Nemea, the most important red-wine appellation of southern Greece, and from Patras, best known for the sweet fortified Mavrodaphne.