Peloponnese, Greece
Feb 4, 2022 - Start of the Winter Olympics (which the Greeks didn’t have)
We checked into our hotel the evening prior, and Theodore at the front desk gave us the whole scoop. Taverna Orestis was one of the only two restaurants open in town, and thankfully now I know what great Greek food tastes like! Sitting by the fireplace, sipping red wine and snacking on grilled chanterelle mushrooms (I’m sure the owners picked that day), I don’t think we could have stumbled into a better dream. The next morning Theo laid out an amazing breakfast spread, luckily there was one other patron of the hotel to share it with. A easy stroll over to the Ancient Olympics archaeology site (they call it the sanctuary), and 6€ for the site and two museums, this country Is a great bargain. We did some research about visiting, but in reality, we couldn’t have guessed how immense the sanctuary was… The site had changed many times over those ancient years, ending in an major earthquake that brought the remaining stones to the ground.
My Greek history is as bad as my Greek pronunciation, but I believe the mythical story of how the Olympics started goes like this:
The hero prince Pelops wanted to marry the only daughter of king Oinomaus. In order to win Hippodamea’s hand, he and the king had a great chariot race. Pelops as you guess won, and got the princess and the realm. (The webs talk about how Pelops and the king’s chariot keeper made a deal, and sabotaged Oinomaus’s wheels, killing the king. King Pelops then started the Olympics.)
However the Olympics started in Greece, (back in 776 BC), they went on at the site for many centuries. Until 393 AD, when Roman Emperor Theodosius called them too pagan and baned the games. Almost 1500 yrs later they were back! With the 1894 games in Athens, Greece. The museum on site is extensive and the artifacts numerous. Sadly the place shuts down in the off season by 3:30, so we missed the other 2 museums. But I bet you can guess where we will be going to dinner…
Next is a visit to the east coast and the oraia city of Nafplio.
Temple of Zeus - for whom all games are played.
The grand entrance to the stadium - where 45,000 people could watch the games.
This podium in front of the temple of Hera was (and is) where the Olympic torch flame is lit from (not sure how they carry it to overseas…?)
More columns, column top (Corinthian style?), and a stone bathtub
Cool museum artifacts from archaeological digs on site.
Yasas ya’all
PS: we did get into the Museum of Olympic Games the next morning before our drive. The visit filled in a few gaps in the story for us, as well as some cool artifacts (like a discus, old
coins, and huge shields they carried for the full armor race). Cheers and thx for reading👌
Did I mention the long jump the athletes carried weights!?!