You appreciate the magnitude of the former Temple of Olympian Zeus when you admire the 15 remaining fluted columns. They stand an imposing 56 feet tall. Now imagine a structure supported by 104 of these marble columns. What deity could possibly warrant such a tribute? Zeus was the king of all gods and the father of a dozen Olympian gods. He received the gift of lightning and thunder from a Cyclopes and ruled the sky while his siblings Poseidon and Hades controlled water and the underworld respectively. Zeus was also the founder of the Panhellenic Games at Olympia, the start of the Olympics in 776 BC. If this sounds intriguing, then consider the 3.5 hour drive to the Archaeological Site of Olympia. The location once housed a Zeus statue that was named one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.
