Olympia Greece

Athens to Rome Cruise 2026

Olympia Greece

February 3, 2026

Today we are in a tiny little town called Katakolon Greece.  It is a beautiful little town and the jumping off to Olympia.  Certainly no large cruise ships could access this tiny harbour.  We boarded our tour buses for the short 25 minute ride to Olympia early in the morning.  

I think the only people at the site were from our cruise ship.  Having the opportunity to see the site with so few people was perfect.  

Olympia was the site of the first Olympic games.  It was also the site of the temple to Zeus.  The site which covers 53 hectares was originally constructed around 1300 BC and was in use through 300 AD.  As it was considered a pagan site its use was forbidden after that.  The site was flooded by the river and buried under 7 meters of dirt.  The site has been excavated and there is ongoing restoration work.  

It was really neat standing on the starting line in the original Olympic stadium.  The stadium its self is a large grass bowel with the sides providing seating for 47,000 people. Athletes entered through a covered entry at one end.    

We only had a few minutes to go through the museum after the tour which was unfortunate, as there were thousands of artifacts ranging from tiny figurines to huge bronze pieces representing mythical creatures such as winged Griffins, there were lots of bulls as bulls were scared.  I took over a hundred pictures so you are seeing only a tiny fraction.  

What a great day to see such a wonderful and unique place.

Terry