"OLYMPIEION

The Olympieion includes the sanctuary (temple) of Olympian Zeus, Roman baths, classical houses as well as a section of the ancient city´s fortification wall. According to the geographer Pausanias, the temple of Olympian Zeus was founded by Deukalionas, a mythical ancestor of the Greeks. In the age of the tyrrany, circa 515 BC, Peisistratos the younger grandson of the tyrant Peisistratos, attempted to replace the old temple with a new, more impressive temple. The tyranny, however, was abolished and construction work was terminated. The construction of the new temple was later assigned to the Roman architect Decimus Cossutius by the king of Syria Antiochus IV Epiphanes. Antiochus died in 163 BC and the construction of the temple was once again abandoned. The structure did not have a roof and pediment. The construction of the temple, which ranks among the biggest in antiquity, was completed in 131 AD by the Roman Emperor Hadrian. It is of Corinthian order (110m in length and approximately 44m in width), three rows of eight columns at the narrow sides and two rows of twenty columns at its long sides. Inside the temple there was a gold and ivory statue of Zeus which does not exist today."

GREEK NATIONAL TOURISM ORGANISATION "ATHENS ATTICA"