Sanctuary of Zeus
Dates
unspecified
Garden Description
The extensive sanctuary at which Panhellenic athletic games took place, was situated on the Alpheus river in groves of trees of ancient date. In early Greek mythology, the semi-divine Herakles was said to have planted trees in the sacred precinct, called the Altis, at Olympia (Pindar, Olympian Odes 3.13-18, 23-26, 31-34). In the 2nd and 3rd centuries A.D., Roman visitors to the site could still see the groves of wild olives and plane trees (Pausanias 5.10.1, 5.13.1, 5.15.3; Philostratos, Imagines 2.6.1). In the Roman period, imperial patronage and the resuscitation of the games prompted the erection of several new buildings along the banks of the Kladeos river, in particular guest houses, for the many visitors and tourists.
Keywords
- literary gardens
- Pausanias
- sacred grovesAAT:300251876
- plane trees (Platanus orientalis)
- wild olives (Olea oleaster)