Port of call Katakolon - Olympia - Greece

W e organize flexible & tailor-made itineraries customized to client's satisfaction and needs

Special programs exclusive for 
clients arriving by cruise ships in Greece
shore excursions

Designed for cruise passengers seeking a more personable service, or a more upscale
Way of enjoying the shore excursions. Arrive on Oceania Cruises , Crystal Cruises, Royal Caribbean Cruises . Princess or other Mediterranean cruises. Port Trips , shore excursions and ground transportation in the Mediterranean. We cater to your need and custom tailor, from 1 to 2000 passengers. If you are among those who wish to break away from the crowd and experience more intimate experience. Families and children are always welcomed. You'll always have your PRIVATE air conditioned vehicle and private guide.

YEAR 2008  ITINERARIES

Things to do & places to see from KATAKOLON

Visit of Ancient Olympia (4 hours)

PARTICIPANTS	UP TO 2	UP TO 16	UP TO 40
PRICE PER GROUP	420.00	520.00	580.00

 

The above prices are in Euro and Include A/C bus - A/C Mini bus - A/C car and professional English speaking guide
Extra charges:
Entrance fee to Ancient Olympia € 6+6 for the museum per person (or € 9 combo ticket)
For the final cost please calculate price + (participants X 12 or 9) = TOTAL COST

Departure from Katakolon port for the guided visit to Ancient Olympia, museum and site.

 

One of the most important sanctuaries of antiquity, dedicated to the father of the gods Olympian Zeus. Olympia is the birth-place of the Olympic Games and also where they were held.
The area, of great natural beauty, has been inhabited uninterruptedly since the 3rd millennium B.C. and in the late Mycenaean period it became a religious center.

The excavations at Olympia were begun in May 1829, two years after the battle of Navarino, by French archaeologists.
The finds (metopes from the opisthodomus and parts of the metopes from the pronaos of the Temple of Zeus) were transferred to the Louvre where they are still being exhibited. When the Greek government was informed of the looting of artifacts, the excavation was stopped.
Excavations started again 45 years later by German archaeologists. The research is being continued to this day by the German Institute of Archaeology in Athens, and the Ephorate of Antiquities in Olympia.

The sanctuary of Olympia spreads around the green wooded feet of the Kronion hill, where the rivers Alpheios and Cladeos meet. The valley amongst the two rivers was in ancient times full of wild olive trees, poplars, oaks, pines and plane trees and it was these trees that gave the center of the sanctuary the name Altis, meaning alsos (grove).

The Altis is the name given to the area in Olympia that comprises the main religious buildings, temples and votive offerings of the sanctuary. Out of the enclosure were the auxiliary buildings, priests' houses, baths, the areas for the preparation of the athletes, guest houses along with other buildings.

 

The beginning of worship, as well as the mythical confrontations that took place in Olympia, are lost in the depth of the centuries. At the end of the Mycenaean era there was already an installation in the area, and in the Geometric and early Archaic periods, the first simple buildings of the sanctuary were founded.
The games began in 776 B.C. to honor Zeus. Pelops, the king of the Peloponnese was, according to mythology, their founder. The games, that, from beginning to end were dominated by religious character and austere ritual, were taking place in the area in front of the temples to start with, but later as the athletes taking part in the games, as well as the spectators increased, in well organized installations. At the same time the events were enriched in number and variety.

The innumerable offerings of the 7th-6th centuries B.C. were placed outside on trees, altars or in alcoves of the sanctuary. The most important of the offerings were bronze tripods and cauldrons of excellent quality, war loot (hanging on poles) and other art objects and instruments for the games. In the passing of centuries the architectural plan of the sanctuary takes shape, until the end of the 4th century B.C. when it is finally completed.

Olympia was always functioning as a place of political projection and the games often fell, especially during late antiquity, victim to political exploitation from important personalities like Philip II, Alexander the Great and his successors. Romans, proving their authentic Greek origin, also took part in the games, after the total submission of Greece to Rome, but by then the glamour and idealistic spirit of the games was considerably weakened.
Directly depending on the the games and the sanctuary of Olympia was the town of Elis, whose sole interest was the preparation and performance of the games.