Athens, Temple of Olympian Zeus

The Temple of Olympian Zeus is a colossal temple in the center of the Greek capital Athens. It was dedicated to the “Olympian” Zeus, the head of the Olympian gods. Construction began in the 6th century BC, planning to build the greatest temple in the ancient world, but it was not completed until the 2nd century AD, some 638 years after the project. Comprising 104 colossal columns, the temple was known as the largest temple in Greece and contained one of the largest cult statues of the ancient world.
The temple was sacked during the barbarian invasion in 267 AD. It was probably never repaired and after that it fell into ruins. However, much of the temple remains today, particularly the 16 original giant columns, and it continues to be part of a very important archaeological site in Greece.
Its foundation was laid on the site of an ancient open sanctuary dedicated to Zeus. Construction of the colossal new Temple of Olympian Zeus began around 520 BC. e. Temple of Olympian Zeus, designed by the architects Antistatos, Calleshrus, Antimonides and Formos. It would have been surrounded by a double colonnade of eight columns in front and behind and twenty-one columns on the flanks, surrounding the cella.
Only in 174 BC. e. The Seleucid king Antiochus IV Epiphanes, who imagined himself as the earthly incarnation of Zeus, resumed the project and entrusted it to the Roman architect Decimus Cossutius.
It was only after the accession of Hadrian in the 2nd century AD that the project was finally completed, some 638 years after it began.
In 124-125 AD, the Temple of Olympian Zeus was completed. The temple was surrounded by a wall and the area was paved with marble, making it the center of the ancient city. The temple was officially consecrated by Caesar Hadrian in 132, who took the title "Panellenios" to commemorate the event. Behind the building, the Athenians erected a colossal statue of Hadrian in honor of the emperor's generosity. The form of the statue's design was unusual, since the use of chrysoelephantine was considered archaic by that time. Hadrian may have imitated the famous Parthenon statue of Athena by Phidias in the Parthenon, thus seeking to draw attention to the temple and himself.
Before entering the sanctuary of Olympian Zeus in Athens, the Roman Emperor Hadrian dedicated a temple and a statue worthy of attention, which in size surpasses all other statues, with the exception of the colossi in Rhodes and Rome, and is made of ivory and gold with artistic workmanship that is remarkable, If you take into account the size - in front of the entrance, there are statues of Hadrian, two from Phasian stone, two from Egyptian. In front of the columns are bronze statues, which the Athenians call "colonies". The whole circumference of the territory is about four states, and they are full of statues; for every city dedicated the likeness of the Emperor Hadrian, and the Athenians surpassed them by dedicating a remarkable colossus behind the temple. On the territory there are antiquities: a bronze Zeus, a temple of Kronos and Rhea and the enclosure of Gaia (Earth) nicknamed Olympias. Here the floor opens to the width of a cubit, and it is said that water flowed down this bed after the flood that occurred in the time of Deucalion, and wheat flour mixed with honey was thrown into it annually. On the pillar there is a statue of Isocrates. . . There are also Persian statues in Phrygian marble supporting a bronze tripod; both the figures and the tripod are worthy of attention. The Athenians say that the ancient sanctuary of Olympian Zeus was built by Deucalion, and as evidence that Deucalion lived in Athens they cite a tomb located not far from the present temple. Hadrian also built other buildings for the Athenians: the temple of Hera and Zeus Panlennios (common to all Greeks).
The Temple of Olympian Zeus was badly damaged during the sack of Athens by the Herulians in 267 AD. It is unlikely that it was repaired given the extent of the damage done to the rest of the city. Completely destroyed by an earthquake in the 5th century. Materials from the (presumably now destroyed) building were incorporated into a basilica built nearby in the 5th or 6th century.[5]
In the foreground are ruins and a column that collapsed in 1852 due to strong winds.
Over the next centuries, the temple was systematically quarried to provide building materials and materials for the houses and churches of medieval Athens. By the end of the Byzantine period it was almost completely destroyed; When Ciriaco de' Pizzicolli (Cyriacus of Ancona) visited Athens in 1436, he found that only 21 of the original 104 columns were still standing.

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Beautiful!