After Corfu we set sail for Katakolon, which is the port closest to Ancient Olympia, the cradle of the Olympic games.
We only had half a day here and for some reason I did not take a lot of photographs, not even one pretending to be at the starting block of the racing stadium…
This is an impressive site, yet you need a lot of imagination to picture what it was like in the “golden age”, especially to imagine the enormous gold and ivory statue of Zeus. Everything we ever see in antique sites or museums are bare stone or marble, but this statue was not only huge, it was painted in very bright colors according to what the archeologists have found. These fallen columns can give a clue as to the scale of things.
Can you imagine the testosterone, when thousands of men gathered there to meet, relax, train and compete? Women were not allowed on the site and those who were caught sneaking in were thrown off a cliff.
This was the arched way to the stadium.
Although the statues have been removed, there are still several inscribed stones.
Some of the aforementioned statues are in the museum.
The most famous is a marble statue of Hermes of Praxitelis…I found him to be a bit effeminate in his pose.. but it is still a beautiful piece..
This one is less impressive but interesting as it gives us an indication of the clothing worn in those days.
Poppies were beginning to bloom dotting the landscape with drops of blood.
Take me to Mediterranean Cruise, Part 6
Take me back to Mediterranean Cruise, Main Index