The museum is a veritable storehouse of ancient artifacts that have been painstakingly collected by excavators from the site where the ancient Olympic Games used to be held – “Olympia”.
This one of its kind museum was established in the year 1975, and was made open to the public in the year 1982 whereby the visitors were able to have a first hand glimpse of the many facets of the ancient Olympic Games. The museum was designed by renowned Greek architect - Patrocolos Karadinos.
A list of some of the most important exhibits of the museum are mentioned below:
The sculptured ornaments from the Temple of Zeus:
The temple of Zeus had as many as 42 figures that embellished the two pediments and there were12 Metopes inclusive of the lion-headed water gusher that extended the entire length of the temple.
It is easily one of the finest existing ensembles from ancient Greece. They fit in to the "austere fashion" and is believed to date back to the 5th century B.C. The eastern pediment artistically portrays the legendary chariot race between Pelops and Oinomaos while the principal figure is of Zeus.The western pediment on the other hand artistically portrays the Centaurs’ kidnapping of the Lapith women and the Greek god Apollo is the dominating theme.
The “Metopes” are symbolic of Hercules' labours. All these priceless sculptures dated back to the 5th century B.C.
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which states that the Nikeof Paionios statue was built
by Messenians and the Naupactians primarily for their hard fought victory against the Lacedaemonians in the in famous Archidamian or Peloponnesian war that probably took place in 421 B.C. The statue is the work of renowned sculptor Paionios of Mende who is also credited with the construction of the “Acroteria” of the Temple of Zeus.
The statue of Nike of Paionios is made out of the finest variety of Parian marble and has a height which is all of 2.115 meters. However, if one were to take into account the broken wings, it would easily have reached a height of 3 meters.
Zeus and Ganymedes:
Zeus and Ganymedes are typical terracotta statuette that artistically portrays Greek god Zeus carrying off little Ganymedes. It dates back to 480-470 B.C.
Bronze breastplate with incised decoration:
A scene of Zeus and Apollo is artistically engraved on the lower part with his trademark “Kithara”. |
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The helmet is exactly the one which was worn by the general in the battle of Marathon, where he came out victorious against the Persians, and offered the helmet to Zeus as a sign of gratefulness.
Bronze battering-ram:
This is the only existing instrument of its kind from Greece’s distant past. On all the sides the ram’s heads are figuratively depicted.
The bronze battering ram dates back to the 5th century B.C.
Bronze Horse:
The exquisite Bronze Horse is believed to belong to the period
between the Geometric to the ancient period. It stands out by virtue of its sheer magnitude as most of the other artifacts of that period(Geometric Period) are much smaller in scale and dimension.
Little Bronze Horse:
This is an exquisite little piece of artwork and probably is the work of an expert Argive sculptor. The sculptor artistically portrays the gracefulness of the horse.
All said and done, don’t miss out on the Book Shop at the museum premises that sells not only books but also colorful postcards and slides as well.
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