Greek town in the western Peloponnese, population ca. 2000, inhabited since before 1600 BCE. Near the current town's location lie the ruins of an ancient sanctuary dedicated to Zeus and Hera since at least 1000 BCE. This installation was the site of the ancient Olympic Games from at least 776 BCE until 393 CE, though there's evidence of it hosting sporting events as early as 884 BCE and possibly earlier. Olympia is not related to Mount Olympus which is in north-eastern mainland Greece. In fact, during much of antiquity Olympus was barely on the fringes of Hellas whereas Olympia rivalled Delphi as a cultural reference for all Hellenes.

The site of Olympia was originally under the control of the town of Pisa (no, not the Italian one or we'd have a leaning temple of Zeus). In 572 BCE it came under the joint control of Elis and Sparta, the former organising the events and the latter enforcing the Olympic truce. After all, a truce is worthless without a big stick to back it up and the Spartans had nothing, if not big sticks. From ca. 360 BCE onwards and until the decline of the Roman Empire Olympia was formally neutral territory in respect to all conflicts.

Following the end of the Olympic Games, Olympia went into decline and lost its role in world affairs. Today it is little more than a village. It has regained some of its symbolic importance in regard to the Olympic Games as the site where the Olympic torch is ceremonially lit before being carried to the venue of the modern Olympic Games. Modern Olympia relies on the tourist trade and the traditional cultivation of olives, citrus and other fruit for income.

Archeological digs have uncovered numerous artifacts from ancient times that are now on display at the local museum (though some of the exhibits took a terminal whoopin' in a 2008 earthquake), as well as a lot of remnants both of the ancient temples and of some of the sporting venues. Other than the antiquities, its scenery isn't much different from the rest of southern Greece.

For the casual visitor, its poor location relative to Athens and other significant tourist destinations means that it's not necessarily worth the day trip unless you're in south-western Greece anyway or are really into old stones, though the stretch between Corinth and Patras makes for a scenic trip by either rail or bus for travellers coming from Athens and the nearby coast offers some fine beaches.