Temple of Olympian Zeus in Athens Greece, a Photo Essay
All that remains of the Temple of Olympian Zeus are these few Corinthian columns. 15 to be precise! Can you guess originally how many were present? 104!
Now imagine how grand this Temple of Zeus would have looked had all the columns been standing. This half ruined Temple of Zeus, the remnant columns are enclosed in a huge area. One can go around them admiring and clicking from all possible angles.
Zeus, Chief of Olympian Gods
But first, who was Zeus?
It is believed ancient Greeks revered Zeus as the King of the Gods. He was father of Gods and men. This Temple of Zeus, a large magnificent temple, epitome of ancient Greek architecture, was built to honor him.
Inside they erected a huge statue of Zeus. Such was the opulence that the Temple of Zeus was ranked in list of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.
Temple for Zeus was built in Olympia. It was the same site where the ancient Greek Olympic Games were held in his honor. Thus the name Temple of Olympian Zeus.
On our first day in Athens we got cloudless blue skies. We walked past the Hadrian’s Arch to get to Temple of Zeus. Standing columns of this site looked magnificent against the blue.
There was one column which lay fallen and looked like sliced up cookies. It was blown down in a storm in 1852. Magnitude of the columns silences you! The base measures 96m by 40m, and each of those columns are 17m tall.
Travel guide book DK advises for best photographs afternoons are the best and thankfully we were able to time the visit.
Temple of Olympian Zeus Architecture
It took 7 long centuries to build this Temple of Olympian Zeus in Athens. The construction was paused or abandoned for a while. Here is a short sequence of events that led to the making of this great monument:
1. Construction of the Temple of Olympian Zeus began in the 5 BC by Peisistratos. Work was stopped either because of a lack of money or because Pisistratus’s son, Hippias, was overthrown in 510 BC. The Classical Greeks (487-379BC) left it unfinished because they believed it was too big and symbolized the arrogance of people who believed they were equal to the Gods.
Details of the pillar
2. During the 3rd BC when the Macedonians ruled Athens, Antiochus the IV of Syria restarted the work. He wanted to build the world’s largest temple and hired the Roman architect Cossotius to complete the job. Unfortunately this ended when Antiochus died.
In 86 BC, during Roman rule the general Sulla took two columns from the unfinished temple to Rome for the Temple of Jupiter on the Capitoline Hill which influenced the development of the Corinthian style in Rome.
3. The temple was not finished until the Emperor Hadrian completed it in 131 AD. That is 700 years later!
I saw similar columns in the ruins of Temple of Castor and Pollux in Forum, Rome.
Statue of Zeus Ancient Wonder
Hadrian had erected a giant gold and ivory statues of Zeus inside the temple with an equally large one of himself next to it. Nothing remains of these statues.
It is not known when the temple of Zeus was destroyed but it probably came down in an earthquake during the medieval period. Like other ancient buildings much of it was taken away for building materials.
An 19th century CE illustration of what the 5th century BCE statue of Zeus.
Statue of Zeus image from Ancient History.
Temple of Olympian Zeus Architecture Details
Tips to tour Temple of Olympian Zeus
- Try and visit the site during later part of the day.
- This is at a good walking distance from Acropolis. Keep yourself well hydrated.
- Touring time is half an hour or just an hour.
- No relaxing on the grass around the temple or climbing the site.
Acropolis as seen from Temple of Zeus
Temple of Zeus as seen from Acropolis
Temple of Zeus Tickets
With a ticket costing 20 euros you can visit Acropolis and other ancient sites in the area. They include: Ancient Agora, Theatre of Dionysos, Kerameikos, Roman Agora, Tower of the Winds and the Temple of Olympian Zeus. The ticket is valid for a week. There is an option to buy individual tickets to these other sites if you are running short of time.
The best part is the ticket is valid for 4 days as long as you visit any of the sites once. You can’t take a break for a day. They check tickets at the entrance of each of the sites.
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(This post was first published on Jan 15, 2015.)
I love how old the ruins in Athens are and I love the architecture of this one specifically, the Roman & Greek temples are beautiful! Also, the view of the Acropolis in the backdrop is great.
15 left out of 104? OMG I need to see this soon! I hope they do something to ensure the remaining columns wont get damaged any further! They’re incredible! I cant wait to visit Greece!
It kind of reminds me of Artemis Temple in Turkey — once one of the ancient wonders of the world, now reduced to a single column. At least the Zeus temple has more left of it than that, and it seems like they’re doing a good jobc preserving it!
104 Corinthian Columns! The temple of Zeus must have been huge. One cannot stop marveling at the architecture in the time where mechanization was minimal. Is Parthenon also close by?
Awesome shots of the columns! Awesome history, too! I would really love to travel to Greece!
It’s incredible: I’m constantly flying around the world but didn’t make it to Greece yet. And Athens would of course be on top of my list. Since you are mentioning the Macedonians: It would probably be a very complete picture to do both countries on one trip just to trace how they are connected (although especially the Macedonians don’t like it….)
Only 15 of the original 104 columns left standing from the Temple of Olympian Zeus. Great that we still have a few surviving pieces, but it makes me wonder what it was like when all the original columns were up. You’ve captured the temple with such detail. Great photography. What an interesting article about this amazing temple, Hope to visit it at some point!
Such an Incredible Temple with lots of History. Those pillars are huge and the intricate design on it is amazing too. Your pictures are beautiful and post is quite informative.
I literally just visited here for the first time a few weeks ago and loved it! Wish I had read your guide before, though, as I learned a lot 🙂
I visited there over 30 years ago and you were able to go right up to the ruins. It sounds like the limited access did not affect your viewing. I had not known that the Temple of Zeus had so many false starts. It is also interesting to learn how the Roman architecture was influenced i.e. the Corinthian Column taken from Greece to Rome.
They look magnificent indeed. Beautiful photographs 🙂
Magnificent temple architecture! I could understand the actual size of the temple pillars looking at the last picture only after observing that person dressed in black! How majestic it would have been in its times!
Your photography is superb, Indrani!
Wow -cheering on your post from Melbourne!!, I would love to visit myself one day, 1
Your photos are wonderful and you tell the history of the Temple of Zeus so well – love the description of the fallen column being like sliced up cookies!
Wren x
Excellent shots and interesting seeing from various angles… simply marvelous remnant!
These are very good captures.
Awesome Indrani.
Wow..you bring back us to Romans Indrani..!
Amazing ! It's hard to believe such great architecture was created nearly two millennia ago!
What an amazing (and beautiful) feat of engineering!
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It looks pretty impressive still, it must have been absolutely amazing. The magpie is a lovely bird.
WOW! How wonderful to have been there to see these ancient columns so well photographed. Have a great weekend.
Hello Indrani, what a lovely scene and images.. The ancient columns are just amazing to see still standing.. I love the magpie too. Great post! Thank you for linking up and sharing your post. Have a happy weekend!
The base measures 96m by 40m, and each of those columns are 17m tall. – what a great Civil engineering is applied. Indrani ji , I saw like pillars in Rome also , I just want to know (if you can tell) that these types of pillars have some specific meaning in christian culture or it is just their style ?
I love visiting your blog! It always makes me happy.
Majestic structure…looks more beautiful in the backdrop of the clear blue sky…
Great pics and detail!
Bright blue sky. So beautifully gorgeous. Great architecture.
Beautiful pics and amazing architecture!!
Awesome architecture against the clear blue sky.
Great shots!
Interesting…. Good Presentation!
Relics and ruins of Greece is always interesting! Enjoying your posts on Greece. Keep sharing. 🙂
sometime pics speak more than the words ….:-)
Greek stalwarts !
It must have been just amazing for you to be there and see this incredible part of history.
Absolutely amazing to stand in such a place. I have goosebumps just imagining it.
Wonderful..!
Immensely tall pillars of incredible beauty,magnificence & splendor. Such amazing levels of skill, architecture & craftsmanship that existed in the BC's.
Awesome photos
Great shots! What a magnificent sight it must have been!
They are just like what I've seen in a history textbook. I wish I could see them in person.
Wonderful structures!
Indrani, those blue skies set off the magnificence of the columns. And only when I saw the fallen, sliced "cookies" did I get an impression of how huge these columns are. I love the white bird with a long black tail on one of the temples. Great light for great images. I wish you a wonderful Friday. Greetings Jo
Wow, incredible structures!! Thanks for sharing.
Absolutely incredible! Thank you for sharing this Indrani and for telling us of all of the wonderful history of the place. I found it fascinating!
Beautiful photos. That blue sky is so magical and really lets everything pop! How magnificent the complete structure would have looked. Your post brought back lovely memories. Your last picture is really nice… I didn't manage to get a shot of the temple from the Acropolis. It looks lovely from the top shot.
Love the ancient columns. Such a spectacularly clear day!
Thank you so much for sharing your Greece trip, Indrani!! Such wonderful memories your photos have brought me!! We had such a wonderful trip there and it was very special for my husband as he had just competed in the Olympics in Tokyo and was a silver medalist!! Have a beautiful weekend!!
i can imagine seeing all 104 still in place!