Olympia was a Panhellenic sanctuary, open to all Greeks. Every four years in late summer, thousands of Greeks from all over the known world converged at Olympia for the games held in honor of Zeus. The first Olympic Games were held in 776BC. They continued uninterrupted for over a thousand years, until around 400BC. In the sixth century BC, an earthquake toppled all the buildings and the site was abandoned. Nearby rivers covered the site with a deep layer of silt, protecting the ruins until excavations began in 1875. The modern visitor can see the foundations of all the important buildings and can view a wide array of artifacts in a museum on the site. In 1896 the first modern Olympic Games where held in Athens Greece.

OLYMPIA