I am more than convinced that Peloponnesus offers a wide variety of experiences and landscapes for the traveler. A place that is impossible to miss is Ancient Olympia. Olympic Games revived by the French Baron Pierre de Coubertin in 1896. 114 years have passed since then but before that, they have been taken place in Ancient Greece every 4 years from 776 BC until 393 AD, an institution that lasted for 1169 years!
We started our trip from Athens taking the high way until Corinth and then direction to Patra. After 4 hours of easy driving, following the labels we arrived in Ancient Olympia in the region of Elia. Firstly, we went to the New Museum we liked it because it was not tiring to see everything and there were some of the most important ancient pieces of arts to admire. The most important is Hermes of Praxiteles, a magnificent statue of the god presenting him very natural. The statue is very well preserved thanks to its luck during the earthquakes and the technique of his sculptor, made by perfect polished Parian marble that depicts the ideal body of a god as it should be, according to the classical Greek art. This statue at night is transferred many levels down in order to be protected. All the exhibits in the museum are highly protected by special designed systems against each danger like theft, earthquake, fire etc. The museum is one of the richest, there you can see the Nike of Panionios a masterpiece of the 5th c. BC. It was dedicated to Zeus by the Naupaktians and Messenians for their victory over the Lacedaimonians (421BC) but it has not survived so perfect as Hermes. Moreover, there is the workshop of Pheidias with his personal mug and the inscription “ΦΕΙΔΙΟ ΕΙΜΙ” “I am Pheidias’s”, the helmet of Miltiades after the victory of Athens at the battle of Marathon (490BC). Unfortunately the most important of all, the statue of Zeus a masterpiece of Pheidias, one of the seven wonders of the ancient word, has been lost. It was 12 meters tall made from ivory and gold and used to be in the temple of Zeus until it was lost or destroyed. I can only imagine how it was and still be impressed! At least, we could admire the pediments from the temple of the lost statue depicting the contest between Pelops and Oinomaos and the battle between the Lapiths and Centaurs. Apart from that, the 12 metopes depict the labors of Herakles, my favorite in mythology!
The archaeological site is close to the museum and it is better to go there when it is not very warm, we were lucky about that. Although I had visited the site during the school days, now I had a totally different feeling. I was walking through the ancient remains and saw where the ceremony starts by lighting the fire outside the temple of Hera in every event of Olympic Games . I pictured the athletes coming from all over Greece to race for a crown made from the sacred olive tree. Of course their most important wish was to be remembered by the next generations (υστεροφημία). I saw children running in the stadium with their parents and I remembered two things that I had read: during the games the audience was watching them exposed in the sun (no shadow at all where they were watching) from the early morning until night. Secondly, women were not allowed to participate but there was one, Callipatira from Rodos that wanted absolutely to watch her son racing. Eventually, she dressed like a male trainer and she watched him winning. She was so happy that she revealed her female identity. However she was not punished because she was coming from a family of athletes participating in the Olympic games but since then, it was defined the athletes and the trainers to be nude so that no other woman would repeat that.
I could write even more details about Ancient Olympia but in any case it is worth a visit to realize them yourself. In general the trip was very nice for the landscape that we met. We stayed in a traditional lodge around 40 min away from Ancient Olympia. It is called Dryades and is situated between the village Lalas and Foloi Forest. The location is very beautiful, in the nature and the room was very clean and cute with a nice view. The locals who run this lodge can make your staying even more interesting because they can rent you bikes or horses to explore the area. This is a good reason for me to come back.
I was very impressed by the Foloi Forest। It is a forest of oak trees situated between Erymanthos and Pinios river, where according to the mythology, nymphs and centaurs live. While I was there I could actually believe it! It is protected by Natura 2000 network.
I will definitely go back to explore it!
