Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
The Temple of Olympian Zeus (‹See Tfd› Greek: Ναός του Ολυμπίου Διός, Naós tou Olympíou Diós), also known as the Olympieion or Columns of the Olympian Zeus, is a former colossal temple at the centre of the Greek capital, Athens. It was dedicated to "Olympian" Zeus, a name originating from his position as head of the Olympian gods.
The Temple of Olympian Zeus in Athens, also known as the Olympieion, was built over several centuries starting in 174 BCE and only finally completed by Roman emperor Hadrian in 131 CE. Its unusually tall columns and ambitious layout made the temple one of the largest ever built in the ancient world.
The Olympeion was the largest ancient temple on the Greek mainland—a rectangular structure almost 100 metres long and nearly 50 metres wide. It was laid around 515 BC by Peisistratis the Younger on the foundations of a smaller temple.
The Temple of Olympian Zeus, known as the Olympieion, stands as one of ancient Athens’ most significant architectural triumphs, despite its tumultuous and drawn-out history.
Vast and impressive, the Temple of Olympian Zeus was begun by Peisistratus the Young in the 6th century BC, but various events and circumstances meant it took almost 650 years to construct. Eventually, it was the Roman emperor Hadrian who completed the temple around 132 AD.
The Temple of Zeus in ancient Olympia was constructed by the local ancient Greeks in the period 470-456 BCE and serves as an exemplary model of the Doric order. The pediments were adorned with the Battle of Lapiths and Centaurs to the west and the Chariot Race of Pelops and Oinomaos to the east.
In its prime under Hadrian, the temple of Olympian Zeus was an octostyle, dipteral temple, meaning it had eight columns across its narrow ends, with twenty down its long sides, while its total of 104 columns that enshrouded the central cella were generally arranged in two surrounding colonnades.
The Temple of Olympian Zeus took almost 650 years to build. It dominates a huge archaeological site below the Acropolis in Central Athens and was once the largest temple in the ancient world. But it was not originally intended to honor Olympian Zeus at all.
The Olympieion, also known as Temple of Zeus, was built over 2,600 years ago in honor of Zeus, the father of the gods. It is one of the most imposing and important temples of Ancient Greece. The impressive temple ruins near the Acropolis are now one of the top 10 things to do in Athens.
The Temple of Zeus, also known as the Olympieion, is an ancient temple dedicated to Zeus, the king of the Olympian Gods. The origins of this temple can be traced back to the 6th century BC when Athenian...