In western Peloponnese, in the beautiful valley of the Alpheios river, lies the most celebrated sanctuary of ancient Greece. Dedicated to Zeus, the father of the gods, it sprawls over the southwest foot of Mount Kronios, at the confluence of the Alpheios and the Kladeos rivers, in a lush, green landscape. athletic centre in Greece. Its fame rests upon the Olympic Games, the greatest national festival and a highly prestigious one world-wide, which was held every four years to honour Zeus.
The earliest finds in Olympia are located on the southern foot of Mount Kronios. A large number of pottery sherds of the Final Neolithic period (fourth millennium BC). A great tumulus of the Early Helladic II period (2800-2300 BC) was discovered in the lower strata of the Pelopion, while several apsidal structures belong to the Early Helladic III period (2150-2000 BC). It is traditionally believed that in approximately 1200 BC the region of Olympia was settled by Aetolians under the leadership of Oxylos. Olympia was subsequently devoted exclusively to worship and for many centuries had no other structures except for the Altis, a walled precinct containing sacrificial altars and the tumulus of the Pelopion. The trees and altars. The first figurines representing Zeus, the master,
In 776 BC, Iphitos, king of Elis, Kleosthenes of Pisa and Lykourgos of Sparta reorganized the Olympic Games in honour of Zeus and instituted the sacred ekecheiria, or truce. The great development of the sanctuary began in the Archaic period as shown by the thousands of votive offerings - weapons, figurines, cauldrons etc. This is when the first monumental buildings were constructed - the temple of Hera, when the enormous temple of Zeus (470-456 BC) and several other buildings  were erected, outside the Altis. The last Olympic Games were held in 393 AD, before an edict of Theodosius I prohibited all pagan festivals. In 426 BC Theodosius II ordered the destruction of the sanctuary. In 522 and 551 the ruins were devastated anew by earthquakes, the Temple of Zeus being partially buried. Then the  Olympia remained forgotten.