Temple of Olympian Zeus

The Temple of Olympian Zeus, also known as the Olympieion, was planned to be the largest temple in Greece, and its surviving columns still dominate the open ground south-east of the Acropolis. It stands about 500 metres from the rock and around 700 metres south of Syntagma Square, so it is easy to fit into a walk between the National Garden and Plaka.

Its history is a story of ambition and delay. The tyrant Peisistratus built an earlier temple here around 550 BC, and his sons began a far larger one around 520 BC, but work stopped when Hippias was expelled in 510 BC. The Seleucid king Antiochus IV revived the project in 174 BC with the Roman architect Decimus Cossutius, only for it to halt again on his death. Sulla carried off some of its columns to Rome after sacking Athens in 86 BC, and the temple was finally completed by the emperor Hadrian, who dedicated it in the 2nd century AD, almost seven centuries after it was begun.

The finished building had 104 Corinthian columns, each around 17 metres tall. Fifteen remain standing, and a sixteenth, which fell in a storm in 1852, lies on the ground in sections, giving a good sense of the scale. At the north-west corner of the enclosure stands Hadrian's Arch, a Roman gateway that can be seen from the street.

A visit takes 30 to 45 minutes. The site is flat and open, which makes it easier going than the Acropolis, though there is little shade, so go early or late in the day in summer. It is included in the combined ticket for the main archaeological sites of Athens, so it is worth buying that if you are also visiting the Ancient Agora and other sites. Children usually enjoy the fallen column.

The nearest metro stations are Akropoli on Line 2 and Syntagma on Lines 2 and 3, each about ten minutes away on foot. From here it is a short walk to the Zappeion and the National Garden, or across the avenue to the Panathenaic Stadium. The temple is part of the unified archaeological sites of Athens, protected by the Ephorate of Antiquities, and it has occasionally hosted public cultural events.