Museum of the History of the Excavations in Olympia

Right next to the Museum of the History of the Olympic Games of Antiquity, today's visitor to Olympia has the opportunity to visit another cultural place and learn about the history of the long-term and expensive excavation of the archaeological site of Olympia, one of the largest and most important scientific researches of the kind carried out in Greece by the German Archaeological Institute of Athens.

The homonymous museum is housed in a small building and started its operation in the year 2004. Previously and for many decades before its abandonment, the building functioned as an Ephorate, serving the various needs of archaeologists working in Olympia. The exhibition narrates the precursor phases and the progress of the official, systematic excavation research in the splendid sanctuary of Zeus, from its beginning in 1875 until the last years of the 20th century.

Among other things, the exhibition includes an old model with the representation of the sanctuary made by H. Schleif according to the design of W. Dörpfeld. It also houses engravings depicting the Alpheus Valley, before the excavations began, photographs of the first campaigns, the historic agreement of 1875 between Greece and Germany, instruments and excavation tools, documents related to the excavations, a rare edition of the work "Olympia; or, Topography illustrative of the actual state of the Plain of Olympia, and of the Ruins of the City of Elis" by the English traveler John Spencer Stanhope of 1824, photographs of newer excavations, and other memorabilia.

Copyediting: Ephorate of Antiquities of Ilia