Temple of Zeus

The Temple of Olympian Zeus stands at the foot of the Acropolis, its 14 surviving columns towering a huge 55.5 feet (17 meters) high. It was the largest temple in Ancient Greece, but its story is long and complicated. Building began around 550 BCE on the site of another ancient sanctuary dedicated to the Greek god Zeus but stopped when Hippias, son of the Athenian tyrant Peisistratos, was expelled in 510 BCE. The story goes that the Athenians decided not to complete the temple as a building of that scale was hubristic, an offense against the gods. That didn’t worry Antiochus IV, who believed he was an avatar of Zeus and ordered the work to restart. He changed the design so that it reached the scale of the ruins we can see today, but construction stopped again when the temple was only half-finished. After the rise of the Roman Empire, Emperor Hadrian visited Athens and authorized a building project that included the completion of the Temple of Zeus. It was completed and dedicated to the god by Hadrian in 132 CE, and contained a huge statue of Zeus made of gold and ivory. Unfortunately, the finished temple didn’t survive for long - it was badly damaged in 267 when the Herules sacked the city and in 425 the worship of Greek and Roman gods was banned by Theodosius II, a Christian emperor. Material was taken from the temple to be used in other buildings, including a Christian basilica, and by 1436 only 21 of the original columns were still standing. The temple was first properly excavated in 1889 by Francis Penrose and today it is protected by the Greek government.

The temple doesn’t really have enough walls or columns left for there to be an ‘inside’! However, the archaeological sites in Athens are relatively fragile after years of weathering, so visitors are asked not to climb on or touch the ruins. Security staff can be very strict in enforcing this rule, so be sure to respect it.

Not long! It takes less than half an hour to walk around the site unless you’re a photographer who wants to set up the perfect shot. A guided tour might take slightly longer, with guides filling you in on the history of Ancient Athens. If you’re combining your visit with a trip to the Acropolis or any of the other archaeological sites included in the combo ticket, then you should plan to spend at least half a day exploring.

The Temple of Olympian Zeus is in the heart of Athens, surrounded by several of the most important archaeological sites in the city. The closest of these to look out for is Hadrian’s Arch, but it’s also just across the road from the path that leads up the slopes of the Acropolis (past the Theater of Dionysus and the Odeon of Herodes Atticus) to the Parthenon and Erechtheion. On your way, you’ll also pass the Acropolis Museum, where you can visit several of the Parthenon marbles (the remainder being housed in the British Museum in London). If you’d rather walk away from the Acropolis, you’re sure to stumble on the Panathenaic Stadium and the National Garden. The National Garden is a particularly nice place to find some shade and take a break from exploring the city.