Olympieion

Monday I went to the Olympieion area, which used to be outside the city proper, but at the time of the Roman emperor Hadrian was incorporated into Athens. The main attraction is the vast Temple of Zeus, which used to be the largest in all of Greece when Hadrian completed it in AD 132. There are also a bunch of other buildings here; everything from private houses to Roman baths to various temples, but most of them are in a separate area south of the Zeus temple and are currently off limits due to seasonal closings.

The Arch of Hadrian is placed just outside the outdoors museum area. It bears two inscriptions; on the other side it reads "this is Athens, the ancient city of Theseus", while the side facing the camera reads "this is the city of Hadrian, and not of Theseus".


The Temple of Zeus from different angles.






Ruins of a private house.


Ruins of a Roman bath.


The lower area was off limits for now.