Ruins of Olympia testify about the importance of the Olympic Games site, symbol of ancient Greece, which knew Greek people meet there at the occasion of sporting events.
According to the legend, Hercules himself would have built the holy enclosure of Altis surrounding the sanctuaries.
But the games were probably instituted in the VIIIth BC, by Iphitos, king of Pisa, and Lycurgus, legislator of Sparta.
Greek people met in occasion of sporting events, every four years, during an holy break for one month during which battles were stopped.
In the stadium, the Olympic Games included foot race, pugilism (boxes), wrestling, pankration, the pentathlon (race, jump, fight, discus and javelin). In the hippodrome took place the tank and horse-races.
The site is made by a sanctuary (Altis), dominated by the great temple of Zeus and the temple of Hera. Around are several ruins as the palestra, the gymnasium and the stadium.
The museum collects several objects from the excavations, among its a group of terra cotta, Zeus robbing Ganymede from about 470 BC, and the famous Hermes of Praxitele from the IVth BC, chef d'oeuvre in marble of the classic art of Pàros found in the temple Era.
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