Olympia Archaeological Museum

Entrance area

The Archaeological Museum ( Greek Αρχαιολογικό Μουσείο Ολυμπίας Archeologiko Musio Olympias ) in Olympia is one of the most important museums in Greece.

building

The building is largely in its original state

Museum plan

Nike des Paionios

Hermes des Praxiteles

It was originally located in the neo-classical Syngreion , which today houses the Museum of the History of the Ancient Olympic Games . The large number of new important finds made it necessary to re-plan a museum. The building could not be expanded, demolition or relocation seemed indispensable.

In 1966 a new building was designed by the architect Patroklos Karantinos and completed by 1975. It has existed in its current form since 1982 and was renovated in 2003. In terms of design, the architecture is based on elaborate materials such as Cippolino marble and modern building methods in the tradition of materialistic modernism, while requirements such as conservation conditions and visitor numbers were also taken into account. The collection is presented largely chronologically in ten halls clockwise.

Exhibits

Room 1 is dedicated to the geometrical epoch and shows, among other things, early bronze figures . In room 2 further bronze figures from the geometric and archaic times are exhibited, as well as the acroter of the temple of Hera , on which old traces of paint can still be seen. The third hall contains a reconstruction of a portion of the treasury of Megara as well as the only known preserved ancient Bronzerammbock . In the fourth room the helmet of Miltiades and the cup of Phidias are shown.

The central hall contains the gable sculptures of the Temple of Zeus . The east pediment shows the chariot race between Pelops and Oinomaos , the west pediment the battle between the Lapiths and Centaurs . The metopes of the temple, which depict the twelve labors of Heracles , are exhibited on the narrow sides of this room .

Room 6 is dedicated to the Nike des Paionios . This marble figure about three meters high originally stood on a base about eight meters high in front of the Temple of Zeus.

The Hermes des Praxiteles is located in room 7 . This statue dates from around 330 BC. And shows the naked god Hermes holding the little boy Dionysus in his arms.

In the last two rooms there are statues from Roman times; The statue of a bull from the nymphaeum of Herodes Atticus should be emphasized .