What Is The Archaeological Museum Of Olympia?

The Archaeological Museum of Olympia is one of the major and most important museums of Greece and directed by the Ministry of Culture and Sports. The original building was officially completed and opened in 1882, and it was the first museum in Greece outside of Athens.

The museum presents the long history of the most celebrated sanctuary of Zeus, father of gods and men, and where the Olympic games were born.

The museum’s exhibitions contain items from the excavations from the site of the Ancient Olympic Games as well as the surrounding areas. It dates back from prehistoric times to the time under Roman rule and the Early Christian period.

The museum building, including the basement, comprises twelve exhibition rooms, auxiliary spaces, and storerooms. A separate building between the museum and the archaeological site houses a book and souvenir shop.

 

 

History

With excavations exceeding the expectations of the archaeologists at Altis in the late 19^th century, it became necessary to construct a building to display the uncovered objects.

Andreas Syngros, a banker, funded the project and entrusted the design and building of the museum to two German architects, Wilhelm Dorpfeld and Friedrich Adler, together with the archaeologists who had begun the excavation on the site.

The neo-classical building was erected on the hill of Drouva and finished in 1888. In 1954 it was damaged by an earthquake, and later proved too small to house and display the museum’s expanding collections. Plans to build a new museum were approved in the 1970s.

The original building was unused for some time but since 2004 houses the museum on the history of the original Olympic games.

The Archaeological Museum of Olympia, as we know it today, was designed by the architect Patroclus Karantinos and built between 1970 and 1975. The exhibits were progressively moved from the Old Museum, and the New Museum was inaugurated by Melina Mercouri, Minister of Culture, in 1982.

In 2004 the exhibitions were reorganised to meet modern standards. The prehistoric collection, the bronze collection, the large terracotta collection, the Hellenistic collection, and the collection of Roman statues were all reorganized.

A new gallery was created for the Workshop of Pheidias, while the gallery of Hermes was enlarged to allow the statue more room. New cases with state-of-the-art artificial lighting were placed in all the galleries and a new ventilation-air conditioning system was installed throughout the building.

Finally, the museum shop was moved to a new building between the museum and the site, and the area surrounding the museum was rearranged.

 

 

Interest For Today

Through the many exhibits of the Archaeological Museum of Olympia the visitor is introduced to the history of the great Pan-Hellenic sanctuary from the Early Bronze Age to the sixth-seventh centuries AD.

Among the many precious exhibits, the museum is most famous for the sculpture collection as well as the bronze collection, which is the richest collection of its type in the world. The large terracotta collection is also noteworthy.

The key pieces in the museum are Hermes and the Infant Dionysus, some objects from the Temple of Zeus, the Nike of Panionios, as well as an oenochoe that belonged to Phidias.

The recently reorganized exhibition occupies twelve galleries set out in chronological order. It gives a full picture of the historical development of both the sanctuary and ancient Greek art through a wide selection of exhibits, as well as information panels, maps, drawings, photographs and reconstructions and models of the monuments.

• Gallery 1 – The prehistoric period at Olympia.

Include pottery and stone tools of the Early Helladic II and III periods, 2700 – 2000 BC, and finds from the tumulus of Pelops. Terracotta, stone and bronze objects and jewellery from the tholos tombs illustrate the Mycenaean period, 1600 – 1100 BC.

• Gallery 2 – Geometric-Archaic periods.

This unit presents part of the large collection of Geometric and Archaic bronze votive offerings to Zeus, the richest collection of its kind in the world. Included are the weapons dedicated to Zeus.

• Gallery 3 – Late Archaic period and architectural sculpture.

Pottery, bronze jewellery and vessels, and several important sculptures with painted decoration from various monuments, such as the pediment from the Treasury of Megara, the cornice from the Treasury of Gela and a lion-headed spout, can be seen.

• Gallery 4 – The Severe Style.

Large-scale terracotta’s, together with a battering ram’s head and the helmets of Miltiades and Heron are exhibited.

• Gallery 5 – The sculpted decoration of the temple of Zeus.

Houses the unique marble pedimented sculptures and metopes of the temple of Zeus. All examples of the Severe Style.

• Gallery 6 – The Nike of Panionios.

The Nike of Panionios, one of the finest sculptures of the Classical period, is seen in this unit.

• Gallery 7 – Pheidias and his workshop.

Dedicated to the sculptor Pheidias and the making of his chryselephantine statue of Zeus. It presents moulds, tools, pottery, and the famous cup of Pheidias, among other.

• Gallery 8 – The Hermes of Praxiteles.

The statue by Praxiteles, which is the finest example of late fourth century BC art.

• Gallery 9 – Late Classical and Hellenistic periods.

It presents pottery, sculpture, and architectural elements of the Late Classical and Hellenistic periods.

• Gallery 10 and 11 – Roman sculpture.

A collection of Roman sculptures.

• Gallery 12 – The last years of the sanctuary’s life.

The last unit presents the sanctuary’s history and contains objects of terracotta, bronze, and iron of the 2^nd to the 6^th and 7^th centuries AD, when the site was abandoned.

 

Hours of Business

• Summer: 15 June to 30 August daily from 08:00 – 20:00

 

As of 1 September, the timetable is as follows:

• 1 – 15 September from 8:00 – 19:30
• 16 – 30 September from 8:00 – 19:00
• 1 – 15 October from 8:00 – 18:30
• 16 – 31 October from 8:00 – 18:00

 

Holidays

• 1 January
• 25 March
• Good Friday: 12.00 – 17.00
• Holy Saturday: 08.00-15.00
• 1 May
• Easter Sunday
• 25 December
• 26 December

 

Tickets

• Full: €12, Reduced: €6

 

From 1 April – 31 October tickets include visits to:

1. Archaeological Site of Olympia
2. Archaeological Museum of Olympia
3. Museum of the History of the Olympic Games of Antiquity
4. Museum of the History of the Excavations in Olympia.

 

From 1 November – 31 March the price of a single ticket is reduced by 50% for all visitors and cost €6.

 

Free admission days

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

 

Contact information

• Address: Ancient Olympia, Τ.Κ. 27 065, Olympia (Prefecture of Ilia)
• Coordination: 37°38′36.3″N, 21°37′45.8″E
• Telephone: +30 26240 22742 – 2624023753
• Email: efahle@culture.gr

 

 

How To Get There?

Olympia, on the Peloponnese peninsula, is relatively well connected with the rest of Greece. It is situated 266 kilometres west from Athens.

You can book a tour online, or if you want to get there on your own, there are various ways to get to the sanctuary. It can be reached by bus, coach, or private vehicle.