The Temple of Zeus at Olympia was the main sanctuary of the Games held in honor of Zeus in ancient Greece, built in the Doric style by the architect Libon of Elis, using spoils from a local victory. Its sculpted pediments showed the chariot race of Pelops and the battle of the Lapiths and the centaurs, and are now among the best-known works of early classical Greek sculpture. Inside, the temple housed a huge seated statue of Zeus by the sculptor Phidias, made of ivory and gold plates, which was counted among the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. The statue was later moved to Constantinople, where it was destroyed. The temple itself was ruined by earthquakes in late antiquity, and only the foundations and fallen column drums survive.
Before and after
- c. 421 BCEConstruction of the Erechtheion
- from 415 BCE to 413 BCESicilian Expedition
- 406 BCEDeath of Sophocles
- from 5th century BCE to 10th centuryKingdom of Aksum
- 5th century BCEOrigins of Temple of Zeus in Olympia
- 5th century BCEFounding of Aetolian League
- 5th century BCERise of Cynicism
- 15 February 399 BCEDeath of Socrates
- from 398 BCE to 378 BCETwenty-ninth Dynasty of Egypt
More in Civilizations & archaeology
- c. 1,274 BCEConstruction of Abu Simbel
- from 351 BCE to 1494Construction of Mausoleum at Halicarnassus
- from 323 BCE to 30 BCEHellenistic period
- 323 BCEConstruction of Temple of Ephesian Artemis
- 248 BCEConstruction of Terracotta Army
- from 375 CE to 568 CEMigration Period
The era
This moment belongs to the Ancient civilizations (3,200 BCE to 500 CE), writing, cities and empires.