The Temple
The Temple of Olympian Zeus in Athens was once a large temple in Athens with impressive columns. The temple is named after the God Zeus who was the ruler of the Olympian Gods. We visited here in October of 2019.
Today, only 16 of the 104 massive columns remain yet the remains are still impressive and with a little imagination you can envision how the grand temple may have looked. Construction of the temple of Zeus began in the 6th century BC and was finished in the 2nd century AD. The Temple of Zeus is the largest Greek temple, larger than the Parthenon. Inside the temple, at one time, was a gold and ivory statue of Zeus.
The marble columns are indeed impressive, standing at 55 ft 9 in (17m) tall and 6 ft 7 in (2m) wide. On the top of the columns you can see beautiful carvings.
Location of The Temple of Olympian Zeus
Located in downtown Athens, the Temple of Olympian Zeus is easy to find. It is located close to many of the other ancient sites, including the Acropolis, Hadrian’s Arch, and some Roman baths. The entrance cost is nominal and and you get good views of the Acropolis and Hadrian’s Arch, although you can see one side of Hadrian’s Arch from the street. I felt it was well worth the money as there were a lot of good views and angles that you can’t see from behind the fence.
Hadrian’s Arch
Hadrian’s Arch is a magnificent monument that looks like a gateway with window’s on top. This Arch is in Honor of the Roman Emperor, Hadrian and constructed around 131-132 AD. My research shows the arch separated two cities, Hadrian, and Thesseus, or possibly separated new Athens from old Athens. I have read that on the one side of the arch it states, “This is Athens the old city of Thesseus“ on the opposite side it states, “This is the city of Hadrian and not Thesseus“. Although this may be true, I wasn’t able to find where it was written. The arch is a favorite landmark of mine because each time we became lost we seemed to end up here!
Roman Baths
The Roman Date from 124-131 AD and are located within the fenced area of The Olympian Temple of Zeus. These are one of many Roman Bath’s areas around Greece.
Even More Beautiful at Night
Planning
Last year when we were in Athens we used the Rick Steves Pocket Athens guidebook w and found a lot of useful information in it. There is also a pocket map.
This year we added Top 10 Athens (DK Eyewitness Travel Guide) to help us plan and found it extremely helpful and organized. It includes top 10 places for restaurants, things to see, shopping, etc. It also divides into top 10 of each area. This is my favorite guide book. It does come with a pocket map.
We also bought an Athens Street Map which was more in-depth and very useful as we explored more areas on this trip.
Follow me on Instagram!!!!
You can check out my other Athens posts by following these links!
Five Great Places to Eat in Plaka, Athens, Sept/Oct 2019
Anafiotika in Plaka, Athens, October 2019
The Temple of Hephaestus and Ancient Agora, October 2019
Sunrise from Lycabettus Hill, October 2019
Sunrise From Philopappos Hill, September 2019
Arriving in Athens on our Anniversary, September 2019
The Acropolis and Parthenon, October 2018
A Rainy Day in Athens, September 2018
Diary of a Gen-X Traveler contains affiliate links, including Amazon. This means I get a small commission for each qualifying purchase through my links at no charge to you. Thank you!
Fantastic photos – takes me straight back there. What a place!
Thank you! I absolutely love Greece!! I think a lot of people do!!
Wonderful pictures and description. Thank you.
Thank you! It is wonderful place! Love the history!
Love the night pictures! Oh how I wish I would have gone back at night now! So beautiful.
Thanks!! I love Old town Athens at night. These photos were taken through the fence, It would’ve been cool if they allow people in at night but they don’t!
I adore DK guides!! I really have to get to Greece. The pictures are beautiful.
I like those guides as well, they helped me a lot. Greece is amazing!
I’ve never given much thought to traveling to Greece, but you certainly make it look appealing. I’m also a fan of the top 10 guides, and how can you not like Rick Steves!
I agree!! Both Rick Steves and the top 10 helped me not only plan my trips but find my way to many places I would not have known about.
Will be using both for our upcoming trip to Southeast Asia!
Oh wow!! I can’t read to see your posts about that!!!
hopefully the trip provides some good ideas for my blog!
It was supposed to say I can’t wait to see your posts!! I have to quit replying to these without my eye cheaters on!!!
My mind just automatically replaced the word read with wait in your original comment. I didn’t even pick up the word “read”. funny how that works!
Holy Crap! That temple is gorgeous! Nice shots!
Thanks!!
Great photos, so much history at every turn in Athens isn’t there? Never been but always fancied organising a trip and now even more interested.
I do agree! Athens is full of history. Such an interesting and fun city.
Those night photos are stunning!
Thank you!