G06: Ancient Greece - Living in the Past: Olympia

Olympia is the site of the ruins of an ancient sanctuary in Greece that served as the place of origin for the ancient Olympic Games. Olympia is located in the southern part of the country, 10 miles (16 kilometers) inland from the Ionian Sea.

Ancient Olympia was an ancient Greek sanctuary site dedicated to the worship of Zeus located in the western Peloponnese. The Pan-Hellenic Olympic Games were held at the site in honour of Zeus every four years from 776 BCE to 393 CE.

"Ancient Olympia", is a small town in Elis on the Peloponnese peninsula in Greece, famous for the nearby archaeological site of the same name. This site was a major Panhellenic religious sanctuary of ancient Greece, where the ancient Olympic Games were held every four years throughout Classical antiquity, from the 8th century BC to the 4th century AD.They were restored on a global basis in 1894 in honor of the ideal of peaceful international contention for excellence.

Olympia is an ancient Greek sanctuary in the Peloponnese region in southern Greece where every four years the ancient Olympic games were held.

From boxing contests with no weight classifications or point scoring to chariot racing where danger lurked on every corner, it is easy to see why the Ancient Games enthralled the Greeks for so long. Here, we give you the essential lowdown, highlight our favourite facts.

The ancient Olympic Games were primarily a part of a religious festival in honor of Zeus, the father of the Greek gods and goddesses. The festival and the games were held in Olympia (see 'Did you know' in the glossary), a rural sanctuary site (model shown here, courtesy of the British Museum) in the western Peloponnesos.

Olympia (Ολυμπία) is one of the most influential ancient Greek sanctuaries, located in western Peloponnese, in Elis. It is is positioned in a serene and rich valley at the confluence of the Alpheios and the Kladeos rivers. In antiquity it was famous beyond the borders of mainland Greece for hosting the Olympic Games every four years, starting in 776 BCE.