One of the major Tourist Attractions in Athens include The Temple of Olympian Zeus, Athens. This temple is also commonly known as the Olympieion. The construction of The Temple of Olympian Zeus, Athens started as early as the 6th century BC but the temple was completed during the rule of Hadrian in the 2nd century AD. This amazing piece of architecture has been recognized as the largest temple in the whole of Greece during the Hellenistic and roman periods. Large number of travelers from all over the world throngs to this destination to savor the beauty of this great artistic creation.
You can site The Temple of Olympian Zeus in Athens at 500 meter southeast of the exotic destination of Acropolis. From the heart of Athens, this temple is located 700 meters south. Before the construction of this temple, the site had another temple built on it.
The Temple of Olympian Zeus, Athens is a great architectural brilliance. The whole of the temple was built from beautiful marble carried from the Mount Pentelicon. The temple stretched for 96 meters along the sides and in the eastern and western faces it stretched for 40 meters. Initially, this temple had one hundred and four Corinthian columns. Each of these columns was approximately 17 meters high, 2.6 meters in diameter and had the weight of about 364048 kilograms. Among these, forty eight pillars stood in triple rows. Fifty six columns stood in double rows. Unfortunately, only fifteen of these columns still remain standing.
The emperor Hadrian devoted thus grand temple to Zeus, who was considered as the king of the gods. At the temple, Hadrian built a beautiful statue of Zeus made out of gold and ivory. The king also created a huge statue of himself and placed at the side of the statue of Zeus. But, at recent times you can not find any of these statues at the temple. The Temple of Olympian Zeus, Athens was excavated by an eminent archeologist Francis Penrose in the year of 1889- 1896. After that several other archeologists carried on with the work. Very close to this temple, you can find the famous Arch of Hadrian, the arch gateway that led between the ancient city and the great Roman city of Athens.
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