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Olympia ( Greek: Ολυμπία Olympí'a or Ολύμπια Olýmpia, older transliterations, Olimpia, Olimbia), a city of ancient Greece in Elis, is known for having been the site of the Olympic Games in classical times, comparable in importance to the Pythian Games held in Delphi. Both games were held every olympiad (i.e. every four years), the Olympic Games dating back at least as far as 776 BC. In 394Events September 6 Battle of Frigidus: The Christian Roman Emperor Theodosius I defeats and kills the pagan usurper Eugenius and his Frankish general Arbogast. The Olympic Games are abandoned by Roman emperor Theodosius I. The sacred fire of the Roman Emp CE emperor Theodosius IFlavius Theodosius (Cauca [Coca-Segovia], Spain ca 346 Milan, January 17, 395), also called Theodosius I and Theodosius the Great was a Roman emperor. He was the son of a senior military officer, Theodosius the Elder. Theodosius was, briefly, the last rul abolished them.

Olympia is also known for its gigantic ivoryIvory is a hard, white, opaque substance that is the bulk of the teeth and tusks of animals such as the elephant, hippopotamus, walrus, mammoth, etc. Prior to the introduction of plastics, it was used for billiard balls, piano keys, buttons and ornamental and goldFor alternative meanings, see gold (disambiguation Gold is a chemical element in the periodic table that has the symbol Au ( L. aurum and atomic number 79. A soft, shiny, yellow, heavy, malleable, ductile (trivalent and univalent) transition metal, gold d statue of ZeusZeus Kronios (descendant of Cronus), or simply Zeus or Zdeus ( Greek ) or Dias (Greek ) ("divine king") is the leader of the gods and god of the sky and thunder in Greek mythology. Etymology Zeus is the continuation of Dyeus, the supreme god in Indo-Europ, made by PhidiasPhidias (or Pheidias , son of Charmides, (circa 490 BC circa 430 BC) was an ancient Greek sculptor, universally regarded as the greatest of Greek sculptors. Phidias designed the towering statues of the goddess Athena in the Parthenon in Athens and the col, which was one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. Very close to the temple of Zeus (see photo of ruins below) which housed this statue, the studio of Phidias was excavated in the 1950s. Evidence found there such as sculptor's tools, corroborates this opinion.

Excavation of the Olympia temple district and its surroundings began with a French expedition in 1829. German archaeologists continued the work in the latter part of the 19th century. The latter group uncovered, intact, the Hermes of Praxiteles statue, among other artifacts. In the middle of the 20th Century, the stadium where the running contests took place was excavated.

The Olympic flame of the modern-day Olympic Games is lit by reflection of sunlight in a parabolic mirror at the restored Olympia stadium and then transported by a torch to the place where the games are held.

When the modern Olympics came to Athens in 2004, the men's and women's shot put competition was held at the restored stadium.

The ancient ruins sits north of the Alpheus and lies next to Cronius or Cronios hill.

The town has a school and a square ( plateia ). Tourism is popular throughout the late- 20th century. The city has a train station and is the easternmost terminus of the line of Olympia- Pyrgos.

It is linked by GR-74 and the new road was opened in the 1980s, the next stretch N and NE of Olympia will open in around 2005. Distance from Pyrgos is 20 km E(old: 21 km), about 50 km SW of Lampeia, W of Tripoli and Arcadia and 4 km north of Krestena and N of Kyparissia and Messenia. The highway passed north of the ancient ruins.

A reservoir is located 2 km southwest damming up the Alpheus river and has a road from Olympia and Krestena which in the late- 1990s has been closed.

The area is hilly and mountains, most of the area within Olympia is forested.