What Is The Ancient Olympic Games Museum?

The Ancient Olympic Games Museum is a historic structure of neoclassical style, situated on a small hill between the modern city of Olympia and the archaeological site. It was the first museum in Olympia.

Its construction began after the initial excavations of Zeus’ sanctuary and it was completed in 1888. This were done by the German architects F. Adler and W. Dorpfeld, who were already working on the excavations of Olympia since 1875.

Until late in the 1970’s the old museum housed the finds of Olympia like the Hermes of Praxiteles, the Nike of Panionios and the sculptural compositions of the Temple of Zeus.

With the 2004 Olympiad hosted in Athens, the building was renovated from its foundations and converted to the Museum of the History of the ancient Olympic Games with exhibits that illustrate their brilliant history throughout antiquity.

History

As the first archaeological museum of Olympia, the Museum of the History of the Olympic Games was established in 1886 on top of a small hill, west of Altos area. It was rebuilt after a series of damages caused by an earthquake in 1954, and in 2004 it officially turned into the Museum of the History of the Olympic Games.

The museum presents the long history of the Olympic Games and presents findings related to the period when the ancient games took place. The ancient findings exhibited in the museum date back from the 2nd millennium BC to the 5th century A.C. It includes thematic sections starting from the birth of the sports festivals in Greece with ceramic findings and objects from the Mycenae period.

The permanent exhibition of the museum displays ancient findings from various excavations, dating from the prehistoric times to the Early Christian period. Copper and stone inscriptions show the way that the games were organized.

The building complex of the museum has exhibition rooms, auxiliary spaces, and storerooms in the basement and on the ground floor. The exhibition main purpose is to present all aspects of ancient sports and to reveal important insight into the history of the Olympic Games.

Interest For Today

The Museum of the History of the Ancient Olympic Games hosts 463 ancient works, from the Temple of Zeus at Olympia, as well as from other museums in the Greek area.

The exhibits cover a wide chronological range, from the second millennium BC until the 5th century AD and shows the history of the Olympic games, which is the longest known ancient institution.

Apart from ancient art, the visitor can experience the detailed information through the rich visual material. It gives a full picture of the historical development of the Olympics and the other Panhellenic Games: the Pythian at Delphi, the Nemean at the sanctuary of Zeus at Nemea, and the Isthmian Games at the sanctuary of Poseidon near Corinth.

The building complex comprises of exhibitions on the ground floor and basement. It consists of a large central hall, the lobby and eleven small rooms.

The most important of the exhibits are the gold-ring seals which show the first images of sports, representative samples of the Minoan and Mycenaean art, bronze and terracotta figurines geometric warriors and chariots from Olympia. There are also various objects used by athletes such as discs and dumbbells as well as exhibits that make up the unity of the Olympic events.

The inscribed bases of statues that decorated athletes, the stone and bronze inscriptions, the bronze statuettes of athletes, and many vessels with representations of athletes, are among the more important fixtures representing the Olympic games of ancient times.

The purpose of the exhibition is not to just provide information about the ancient games and the introduction of the visitor to the institution of the Olympic Games, but in the basement, visitors will find a digital exhibition. This gives information on the ancient games through multimedia containing texts, pictures, maps, videos, 3D representations of the ancient games, and an interactive 3D theatre. This can be booked in advance and preferably as a member of a group.

The central hall of the Museum hosts the sculptures from the temple of Zeus and the metopes, while the back of the room was overshadowed by the Victory statue Panionios. On the back of the main hall is another famous statue of Olympia Hermes of Praxiteles. The remaining rooms housed some of the findings of the sanctuary, such as bronzes and sculptures.

Hours of business

• Monday: 10.00 – 17.00
• Tuesday – Sunday: 09.00 – 16.00

Holidays (not open to the public)

• 1 January
• 25 March
• Good Friday: 12.00 – 17.00
• 1 May
• Easter Sunday
• 25 December
• 26 December

Tickets

• Full price: €12, Reduced: €6
• Valid for the Archaeological Museum of Olympia, Olympic Games Site, and Museum of the History of the Olympic Games

Free admission days

• 6 March (in memory of Melina Mercouri)
• 5 June (International Environment Day)
• 18 April (International Monuments Day)
• 18 May (International Museums Day)
• The last weekend of September annually (European Heritage Days)
• Every first Sunday from November 1st to March 31st

Reduced admission for

• Greek citizens and citizens of other nationalities (show ID card or passport)
• Students (show student ID)
• Parents accompanying educational groups

Free admission for

• Journalists (show ID card)
• Members of Societies and Associations of Friends of Museums and Archaeological Sites throughout Greece (show membership card)
• Members of the ICOM-ICOMOS
• Persons accompanying blind and disabled
• Escorting teachers of groups
• Guests of the Greek government, with the approval of the General Director of Antiquities.
• Tourist guides
• University students and students at Technological Educational Institutes (show ID)
• Young people, under 18 years

Contact information

• Address: Ancient Olympia, Τ.Κ. 27 065, Olympia (Prefecture of Ilia) US
• Telephone number: +30 26240 29119 or +30 2624 023753
• Email: efahle@culture.gr

How To Get There?

The Museum is just a few minutes from the centre of Olympia city. It can be reached by road or rail transport. For busses or private cars there is a parking space next to the Museum.