Itisallgreek2me

Friday, 22 July 2022… Firstly, thank you everyone for caring ❤ I did have mixed feelings about sharing my misfortunes. However, according to my website Stats, only four Blogs which I wrote during my week on the island of Chalki and which were shared with the large expat community there, have received more views than “Caught Between A Rock And A Hard Place”… amazing!!!

A ferry and actually three buses, not two, brought me yesterday to Olympia. All very well timed as planned, arriving before the intense afternoon heat. Very sad to see the effects of last year’s wildfires still evident in the area. I’m very happy with my lodgings for 2 nights and having the use of a small communal kitchen means I can self cater. I can’t tell you how delicious boiled potatoes, carrots and zucchini tasted last night. 🥔🥕🥒

Tempted to go out walking in the evening, I reminded myself of how I felt just one day earlier and wisely stayed in to rest and prepare myself for today’s adventures.

The religious sanctuary of Ancient Olympia is, of course, famous as the birthplace of the Olympic Games, held there every four years from 776 BC to 393 AD. What is less well known is that it was also a place where remarkable works of art and culture were created and shared to worship the Greek god Zeus.

Conscious of my need to beat the heat of the day, this morning I was at the entrance to the archeological site around 08.00 hours opening time. Followed that up with visiting the Museum of Olympia, housed in a modern building and then the Museum of the Olympic Games, housed in a beautiful old building.

I cannot find words to adequately describe what I have seen and experienced today. In my opinion, Olympia far surpasses the Acropolis, the Acropolis Museum, Delphi and every other archeological place I have visited in Greece. The best I can do is quote what is written on an information board as you near the ancient site.

… no bright star more quickening than the sun must thou search in the void firmament by day, so neither shall we find any games greater than the Olympic whereof to utter our voice… (For Hieron of Syracuse, Winner in the Horse-Race, Sir Richard Francis Burton, 1821-1890 – Translation)

In the fertile valley of legendary Alpheus and its tributary, Kladeus, in a place of unique and superb natural beauty with rich mythological tradition, was founded the Sanctuary of Zeus, father of Gods and Humans, in the dawn of historic period.

Although geographically isolated, as located in this corner of the western Peloponnese, Olympia stood out historically as the most important Panhellenic religious, political and athletic centre of the ancient Greek world.

Olympia, a monument inscribed in the Catalogue of the World Cultural Heritage of Unesco 1989, was the cradle for ideals, which characterized the Humanity through centuries, such as noble rivalry and fair playing. By implanting these values, Olympia, since antiquity and to eternity, teaches mankind to seek and achieve moral “kotinus” – triumphs.

Welcome to Ancient Olympia!

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