Olympia

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Today’s port is Katakolon in western Greece. This is the port for access to the site of Ancient Olympia and we had booked a transfer with Katakolon Express. These guys came well recommended online and were about a fifth of the price being charged by Holland America. The only thing is you have to wait a bit while they try to drum up extra business on the pier as everyone gets off the boat. About 45 minutes later we were on our way to Olympia. Everyone knows Greece has been hit pretty hard by the GFC and it shows in places. The shops at the pier are full of course but as you travel through the towns, shopfronts are mostly empty, car dealerships have no cars there and there are even quite a few houses or buildings which have been abandoned half way through construction.

Arriving at Olympia, the modern town is obviously prospering from its proximity to the tourist site with the main street full of shops and restaurants. Off the bus, we walked past the museum which forms part of the site and houses many of the best archaeological finds and found the ticket office for the ruins. Dodging through tour groups, we wandered through the ruins of temples and athletic buildings until we found the ancient stadium. We ran the length between the stone start and finish lines set in the ground and Em had a bit more of a run too – she’s getting pretty quick now! The stadium ground needs a bit of a mow at this time of year but on the pitch there is a large amount of Chamomile growing. Everybody walking on it made for a really lovely smell throughout the area.

The other major structure in the area is the Temple of Zeus. This enormous building was surrounded by huge columns and housed a giant bronze statue of Zeus. It was pulled down by the Romans then finally succumbed to nature when earthquakes struck. The confluence of two rivers eventually buried the area in silt and mud until it was excavated by a German archaeological team in the late 1800’s. There are dozens of other buildings including a training gym for the wrestlers and boxers, a large accommodation building and a very well preserved bath house with the remains of heating pipes in the walls to keep the place warm. The Roman emperor Hadrian also had a villa built here when he competed in the Olympic games during his reign.

Realising we has spent 3 hours just walking around, we joined our return transfer back to Katakolon. The port town itself is an attractive area with a small town square, playground and a row of restaurants and tourist shops along the waterfront. After a quick walk around, we got back on the boat, had a very late lunch and spent some time in the pool as we sailed out into a rough Mediterranean sea. The pool is the best place to be in rough weather as you don’t feel the surges and therefore don’t get seasick!

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Photos

The original track
196m from stone line to stone line