Gymnasium, Sanctuary of Zeus (The Altis), Olympia, Greece
Date
2nd century BCE
Description
The gymnasium, a large quadrangular building, is located northwest of the Altis enclosure near the Kladeos river. The gymnasium was used by athletes to practice track and field activities and the pentathlon. The surviving structure dates to the second century BCE.
The gymnasium consisted of a central court enclosed by Doric stoas. The east wing consists of a solid outer wall, an internal double Doric colonnade, and another colonnade of sixty columns along the court. The lower courses of the outer wall were of poros blocks with stone-built buttresses on the exterior, while the upper courses were of brick. The court was used to practice the javelin and discus. A monumental propylon was added at the south-east corner of the building in the late second century BCE. The propylon's interior was divided longitudinally into three naves by two rows of Corinthian columns; the entablature was decorated with bovine heads and supported a coffered stone ceiling.
The gymnasium's west wing was swept away by the Kladeos river, while its north section has not yet been investigated."
--http://odysseus.culture.gr/h/2/eh251.jsp?obj_id=592
The Archivision Collection of Ancient Sites was funded by the Jack Martin Balcer Library Endowment.
Keywords: Greece, Peloponnese, Ilias, Nomos, Olympia, Ancient Greek, Hellenistic, Mediterranean. Photographed by Scott Gilchrist, Archivision.