Archaeological Museum of Olympia

The Archaeological Museum of Olympia is one of the most important museums in Greece and in the world, offering to the visitor the unforgettable experience of a fascinating journey into ancient Greek culture and history, in a period starting from the 3rd millennium BC up to the 7th c. AD.

The first museum in Olympia, an elegant neoclassical edifice, was built between 1883 and 1887, on a hill to the northwest of the archaeological site and housed for many decades exclusively the treasures from the famous Sanctuary of Zeus. In it were housed for the first time the artistic and historical treasures of Olympia, Hermes of Praxiteles, Nike of Paionios, the sculptural decoration of the temple of Zeus and dozens more findings from the systematic excavations that were in progress since 1875 under the responsibility of the German Archaeological Institute and the supervision of Greek archaeologists.

The devastating earthquakes of 1953 caused huge damages to the building. In the meantime, the progress of the excavations in Altis and the new findings that gradually came to light, made it imperative to build a new, larger museum, which would meet the needs and requirements of the post-war era. This is of course the new museum of Olympia which was built on the eastern bank of Kladeos in the 1960s-1970s, according to the plans of the architect Patroklos Karantinos.

Since the Munich Olympic Games (1972) the New Archaeological Museum of Olympia was fully ready. The antiquities were gradually transferred from the old to the New Archaeological Museum of Olympia, which officially opened its doors to the public in 1982. The exhibition spaces, with exhibits of inestimable value, are arranged around the perimeter of the large central hall, which exclusively houses the sculptural decoration of the Temple of Zeus. In the framework of the preparations of Greece and Olympia, for the Olympic Games of Athens in the year 2004, significant improvement projects were carried out in both the archaeological site and in the modern city. Then the fundamental renovation of the Olympia’s museums took place, which were literally reconstituted, according to the requirements of the modern museology.

Since its opening on March 24, 2004, the Archaeological Museum of Olympia has presented to its visitors important works, many of which are milestones in the history of ancient Greek art. In addition to the already mentioned top exhibits, the visitor can admire rare collections of bronze and clay objects, impressive large-scale clay statuary such as the group of Zeus and Ganymedes, the bronze Corinthian helmet of Miltiades, as well as the pediments and metopes of the temple of Zeus, real masterpieces of the Severe Style of the Classical era, the sculptures from the Nymphaion of Herodes, the cup that used in his workshop the sculptor Pheidias, etc.

Copyediting: Ephorate of Antiquities of Ilia