The Temple of Olympian Zeus (, ), also known as the Olympieion or Columns of the Olympian Zeus, is a colossal temple in the centre of
Athens
Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...
, now in ruins. It was dedicated to "Olympian"
Zeus
Zeus (, ) is the chief deity of the List of Greek deities, Greek pantheon. He is a sky father, sky and thunder god in ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, mythology, who rules as king of the gods on Mount Olympus.
Zeus is the child ...
, a name originating from his position as head of the
Olympian gods
upright=1.8, Fragment of a relief (1st century BC1st century AD) depicting the twelve Olympians carrying their attributes in procession; from left to right: Hestia (scepter), Hermes (winged cap and staff), Aphrodite (veiled), Ares (helmet and s ...
. Construction began in the 6th century BC during the rule of the Athenian
tyrant
A tyrant (), in the modern English usage of the word, is an absolute ruler who is unrestrained by law, or one who has usurped a legitimate ruler's sovereignty. Often portrayed as cruel, tyrants may defend their positions by resorting to ...
s, who envisioned building the greatest temple in the ancient world, but it was not completed until the reign of Roman Emperor
Hadrian
Hadrian ( ; ; 24 January 76 – 10 July 138) was Roman emperor from 117 to 138. Hadrian was born in Italica, close to modern Seville in Spain, an Italic peoples, Italic settlement in Hispania Baetica; his branch of the Aelia gens, Aelia '' ...
in the 2nd century AD, some 638 years after the project had begun. During the Roman period, the temple, which included 104 colossal columns, was renowned as the largest temple in Greece and housed one of the largest
cult
Cults are social groups which have unusual, and often extreme, religious, spiritual, or philosophical beliefs and rituals. Extreme devotion to a particular person, object, or goal is another characteristic often ascribed to cults. The term ...
statues in the ancient world.
The temple's glory was short-lived, as it fell into disuse after being pillaged during a
Germanic invasion in 267 AD, just about a century after its completion. It was probably never repaired, and was reduced to ruins thereafter. In the centuries after the
fall of the Roman Empire
The fall of the Western Roman Empire, also called the fall of the Roman Empire or the fall of Rome, was the loss of central political control in the Western Roman Empire, a process in which the Empire failed to enforce its rule, and its vast ...
, it was extensively quarried for building materials to supply building projects elsewhere in the city. Today, a substantial part of the temple remains intact, notably 16 of the original gigantic columns, and it is now the center of a historical precinct.
History
Classical and Hellenistic periods

The temple is about south-east of the
Acropolis
An acropolis was the settlement of an upper part of an ancient Greek city, especially a citadel, and frequently a hill with precipitous sides, mainly chosen for purposes of defense. The term is typically used to refer to the Acropolis of Athens ...
, and about south of the center of Athens,
Syntagma Square
Syntagma Square (, , "Constitution Square") is the central square of Athens, Greece. The square is named after the Greek Constitution of 1844, Constitution that Otto of Greece, Otto, the first King of Greece, was obliged to grant after a popular a ...
. Its foundations were laid on the site of an ancient outdoor sanctuary dedicated to Zeus. An earlier temple had stood there, constructed by the tyrant
Peisistratus
Pisistratus (also spelled Peisistratus or Peisistratos; ; – 527 BC) was a politician in ancient Athens, ruling as tyrant in the late 560s, the early 550s and from 546 BC until his death. His unification of Attica, the triangular ...
around 550 BC. The building was demolished after the death of Peisistratus and the construction of a colossal new Temple of Olympian Zeus was begun around 520 BC by his sons,
Hippias and
Hipparchos. They sought to surpass two famous contemporary temples, the
Heraion of Samos and the second
Temple of Artemis
The Temple of Artemis or Artemision (; ), also known as the Temple of Diana, was a Greek temple dedicated to an ancient, localised form of the goddess Artemis (equated with the Religion in ancient Rome, Roman goddess Diana (mythology), Diana) ...
at
Ephesus
Ephesus (; ; ; may ultimately derive from ) was an Ancient Greece, ancient Greek city on the coast of Ionia, in present-day Selçuk in İzmir Province, Turkey. It was built in the 10th century BC on the site of Apasa, the former Arzawan capital ...
. Designed by the architects
Antistates,
Callaeschrus,
Antimachides and
Phormos, the Temple of Olympian Zeus was intended to be built of local
limestone
Limestone is a type of carbonate rock, carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material Lime (material), lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different Polymorphism (materials science) ...
in the
Doric style on a colossal platform measuring by . It was to be flanked by a double
colonnade
In classical architecture, a colonnade is a long sequence of columns joined by their entablature, often free-standing, or part of a building. Paired or multiple pairs of columns are normally employed in a colonnade which can be straight or curv ...
of eight columns across the front and back and twenty-one on the flanks, surrounding the
cella.

The work was abandoned when the tyranny was overthrown and Hippias was expelled in 510 BC. Only the platform and some elements of the columns had been completed by that point, and the temple remained in that state for 336 years. The temple was left unfinished during the years of
Athenian democracy
Athenian democracy developed around the 6th century BC in the Ancient Greece, Greek city-state (known as a polis) of Classical Athens, Athens, comprising the city of Athens and the surrounding territory of Attica, and focusing on supporting lib ...
, apparently because the Greeks thought it was
hubris
Hubris (; ), or less frequently hybris (), is extreme or excessive pride or dangerous overconfidence and complacency, often in combination with (or synonymous with) arrogance.
Hubris, arrogance, and pretension are related to the need for vi ...
to build on such a scale. In his treatise ''
Politics
Politics () is the set of activities that are associated with decision-making, making decisions in social group, groups, or other forms of power (social and political), power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of Social sta ...
'',
Aristotle
Aristotle (; 384–322 BC) was an Ancient Greek philosophy, Ancient Greek philosopher and polymath. His writings cover a broad range of subjects spanning the natural sciences, philosophy, linguistics, economics, politics, psychology, a ...
cited the temple as an example of how tyrannies engaged the populace in great works for the state (like a
white elephant
A white elephant is a possession that its owner cannot dispose of without extreme difficulty, and whose cost, particularly that of maintenance, is out of proportion to its usefulness. In modern usage, it is a metaphor used to describe an object, ...
) and left them no time, energy or means to rebel.
It was not until 174 BC that the
Seleucid king
Antiochus IV Epiphanes
Antiochus IV Epiphanes ( 215 BC–November/December 164 BC) was king of the Seleucid Empire from 175 BC until his death in 164 BC. Notable events during Antiochus' reign include his near-conquest of Ptolemaic Egypt, his persecution of the Jews of ...
, who presented himself as the earthly embodiment of Zeus, revived the project and placed the
Roman architect
Decimus Cossutius in charge. The design was changed to have three rows of eight columns across the front and back of the temple and a double row of twenty on the flanks, for a total of 104 columns. The columns would stand high and in diameter. The building material was changed to the expensive but high-quality
Pentelic marble and the
order
Order, ORDER or Orders may refer to:
* A socio-political or established or existing order, e.g. World order, Ancien Regime, Pax Britannica
* Categorization, the process in which ideas and objects are recognized, differentiated, and understood
...
was changed from Doric to
Corinthian, marking the first time that this order had been used on the exterior of a major temple. However, the project ground to a halt again in 164 BC with the death of Antiochus. The temple was still only half-finished by that stage.
Serious damage was inflicted on the partly built temple by
Lucius Cornelius Sulla
Lucius Cornelius Sulla Felix (, ; 138–78 BC), commonly known as Sulla, was a Roman people, Roman general and statesman of the late Roman Republic. A great commander and ruthless politician, Sulla used violence to advance his career and his co ...
's sack of Athens in 86 BC. While looting the city, Sulla seized some of the incomplete columns and transported them to Rome, where they were re-used in the
Temple of Jupiter on the
Capitoline Hill
The Capitolium or Capitoline Hill ( ; ; ), between the Roman Forum, Forum and the Campus Martius, is one of the Seven Hills of Rome.
The hill was earlier known as ''Mons Saturnius'', dedicated to the god Saturn (mythology), Saturn. The wo ...
. A half-hearted attempt was made to complete the temple during
Augustus
Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus (born Gaius Octavius; 23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14), also known as Octavian (), was the founder of the Roman Empire, who reigned as the first Roman emperor from 27 BC until his death in A ...
' reign as the first
Roman emperor, but it was not until the accession of Hadrian in the 2nd century AD that the project was finally completed, around 638 years after it had begun.
Roman era
In 124–125 AD, when the
Philhellene Hadrian visited Athens, a massive building programme was begun that included the completion of the Temple of Olympian Zeus. A walled marble-paved precinct was constructed around the temple, making it a central focus of the ancient city. Cossutius' design was used with few changes and the temple was formally dedicated by Hadrian in 132, who took the title of "
Panhellenios" in commemoration of the occasion. The temple and the surrounding precinct were adorned with numerous statues depicting Hadrian, the gods, and personifications of the Roman provinces. A colossal statue of Hadrian was raised behind the building by the people of Athens in honor of the emperor's generosity. An equally colossal
chryselephantine statue of Zeus occupied the cella of the temple. The statue's form of construction was unusual, as the use of chryselephantine was by this time regarded as archaic. Hadrian may have been imitating
Phidias
Phidias or Pheidias (; , ''Pheidias''; ) was an Ancient Greek sculptor, painter, and architect, active in the 5th century BC. His Statue of Zeus at Olympia was one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. Phidias also designed the statues of ...
' famous statue of
Athena Parthenos
The statue of ''Athena Parthenos'' () was a monumental chryselephantine sculpture of the goddess Athena. Attributed to Phidias and dated to the mid-fifth century BCE, it was an offering from the city of Athens to Athena, its tutelary deity. The ...
in the
Parthenon
The Parthenon (; ; ) is a former Ancient Greek temple, temple on the Acropolis of Athens, Athenian Acropolis, Greece, that was dedicated to the Greek gods, goddess Athena. Its decorative sculptures are considered some of the high points of c ...
, seeking to draw attention to the temple and himself by doing so.
Pausanias describes the temple as it was in the 2nd century:
:Before the entrance to the sanctuary of Zeus Olympios
n Athens– Hadrian the Roman emperor dedicated the temple and the statue, one worth seeing, which in size exceeds all other statues save the colossi at Rhodes and Rome, and is made of ivory and gold with an artistic skill which is remarkable when the size is taken into account – before the entrance, I say, stand statues of Hadrian, two of Thasian stone, two of Egyptian. Before the pillars stand bronze statues which the Athenians call ‘colonies.’ The whole circumference of the precincts is about four states, and they are full of statues; for every city has dedicated a likeness of the emperor Hadrian, and the Athenians have surpassed them in dedicating, behind the temple, the remarkable colossus. Within the precincts are antiquities: a bronze Zeus, a temple of
Kronos and
Rhea and an enclosure of
Gaia
In Greek mythology, Gaia (; , a poetic form of ('), meaning 'land' or 'earth'),, , . also spelled Gaea (), is the personification of Earth. Gaia is the ancestral mother—sometimes parthenogenic—of all life. She is the mother of Uranus (S ...
(Earth) surnamed Olympias. Here the floor opens to the width of a cubit, and they say that along this bed flowed off the water after the deluge that occurred in the time of
he mythical king Deukalion, and into it, they cast every year wheat meal mixed with honey. On a pillar is a statue of
Isokrates . . . There are also statues in Phrygian marble of
Persians
Persians ( ), or the Persian people (), are an Iranian ethnic group from West Asia that came from an earlier group called the Proto-Iranians, which likely split from the Indo-Iranians in 1800 BCE from either Afghanistan or Central Asia. They ...
supporting a bronze
tripod
A tripod is a portable three-legged frame or stand, used as a platform for supporting the weight and maintaining the stability of some other object. The three-legged (triangular stance) design provides good stability against gravitational loads ...
; both the figures and the tripod are worth seeing. The ancient sanctuary of Zeus Olympios the Athenians say was built by Deukalion, and they cite as evidence that Deukalion lived at Athens a grave which is not far from the present temple. Hadrian constructed other buildings also for the Athenians: a temple of
Hera
In ancient Greek religion, Hera (; ; in Ionic Greek, Ionic and Homeric Greek) is the goddess of marriage, women, and family, and the protector of women during childbirth. In Greek mythology, she is queen of the twelve Olympians and Mount Oly ...
and Zeus Panellenios (Common to all Greeks).
The temple was badly damaged during the
sack of Athens by the Heruli in 267 AD. It is unlikely to have been repaired, given the extent of the damage to the rest of the city and was completely destroyed by an earthquake in the 5th century. Material from the ruined building was incorporated into a basilica constructed nearby during the 5th or 6th century.
Medieval and modern periods

Over the following centuries, the temple was systematically quarried to provide building materials and material for the houses and churches of medieval Athens. By the end of the
Byzantine
The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived the events that caused the fall of the Western Roman E ...
period, it had been almost totally destroyed; when
Ciriaco de' Pizzicolli Ciriaco is a male given name in Italian language, Italian () and Spanish language, Spanish (). In Portuguese, it's spelled Ciríaco ().
It derives from the Greeks, Greek given name Κυριακός (also Κυριάκος) which means ''of the Lord ...
(Cyriacus of Ancona) visited Athens in 1436 he found only 21 of the original 104 columns still standing.

The fate of one of the columns is recorded by a Greek inscription on one of the surviving columns, which states that "on 27 April 1759 he pulled down the column". This refers to the
Turkish governor of Athens, Mustapha Agha Tzistarakis, who is recorded by a chronicler as having "destroyed one of Hadrian's columns with gunpowder" in order to re-use the marble to make plaster for the
Tzistarakis Mosque that he was building in the
Monastiraki
Monastiraki (Modern Greek language, Greek: Μοναστηράκι, ''Monastiráki'', , literally ''little monastery'') is a flea market neighborhood in the old town of Athens, Greece, and is one of the main shopping districts in Athens. The are ...
district of the city. During the
Ottoman period the temple was known to the Greeks as the Palace of Hadrian, while the Turks called it the Palace of
Belkis, from a Turkish legend that the temple had been the residence of
Solomon
Solomon (), also called Jedidiah, was the fourth monarch of the Kingdom of Israel (united monarchy), Kingdom of Israel and Judah, according to the Hebrew Bible. The successor of his father David, he is described as having been the penultimate ...
's wife.
Fifteen columns remain standing today and a sixteenth column lies on the ground where it fell during a storm in 1852. Nothing remains of the
cella or the great statue that it once housed.
Excavation
The temple was excavated in 1889–1896 by
Francis Penrose of the British School in Athens (who also played a leading role in the restoration of the
Parthenon
The Parthenon (; ; ) is a former Ancient Greek temple, temple on the Acropolis of Athens, Athenian Acropolis, Greece, that was dedicated to the Greek gods, goddess Athena. Its decorative sculptures are considered some of the high points of c ...
), in 1922 by the German archaeologist
Gabriel Welter and in the 1960s by Greek archaeologists led by
Ioannes Travlos. The temple, along with the surrounding ruins of other ancient structures, is a historical precinct administered by Ephorate of Antiquities of the Greek Interior Ministry.
Present

Today, the temple is an open-air museum, part of the unification of the archaeological sites of Athens. As a historical site it is protected and supervised by the Ephorate of Antiquities.
Mythodea 2001
On 28 June 2001,
Vangelis
Evangelos Odysseas Papathanassiou (, ; 29 March 1943 – 17 May 2022), known professionally as Vangelis ( ; , ), was a Greek musician, composer, and producer of electronic, progressive, ambient, and classical orchestral music. He composed ...
organized the
Mythodea Chorus at the Temple of Olympian Zeus in the context of
NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the federal government of the United States, US federal government responsible for the United States ...
's Mars mission. Sopranos
Jessye Norman and
Kathleen Battle
Kathleen Deanna Battle (born August 13, 1948) is an American operatic soprano known for her distinctive vocal range and tone. Born in Portsmouth, Ohio, Battle initially became known for her work within the concert repertoire through performances ...
participated in the concert which was covered by 20 television networks from America, Australia, Canada, Japan and European countries, under the direction of Irish filmmaker
Declan Lowney. The chorus arrangement brought thousands of people inside the Olympic venues, and outside the temple, into the empty streets of Athens. Joining Norman and Battle were the
London Metropolitan Orchestra and the
Greek National Opera, as well as over a hundred people dressed in ancient Greek clothing. The screen mounted at the Olympia connected visual images of ancient Greek performances — vases, frescoes and statues — that invested music with images of the planet Mars.
Ellinais 2007
On 21 January 2007, a group of
Greek pagans held a ceremony honoring Zeus on the grounds of the temple. The event was organized by
Ellinais
Ellinais (), also known as The Holy Association of Greek Ancient Religion Believers (Ελλήνων Αρχαιοθρήσκων Ιερόν Σωματείον), is an Athens-based religious organization intended to promote the spread of Hellenismos, ...
, an organization which won a court battle to obtain recognition for Ancient Greek religious practices in the fall of 2006.
See also
*
List of Ancient Greek temples
*
Architecture of Ancient Greece
Notes
Bibliography
* Darling, Janina K.
Architecture of Greece'. pp. 201–203. Greenwood Press, 2004. .
*
External links
Hellenic Ministry of Culture: Temple of Olympian Zeus website*
Temple of Olympian Zeus: Description in English, Photos, Opening Hours, Ticket prices
{{DEFAULTSORT:Olympian Zeus, Temple Of, Athens
6th-century BC establishments in Greece
2nd-century religious buildings and structures
Landmarks in Athens
Ancient Greek buildings and structures in Athens
Culture of ancient Greece
Unfinished buildings and structures
Temples in ancient Athens
Athens
Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...
6th-century BC religious buildings and structures
Ruins in Greece
Antiochus IV Epiphanes
Hadrian