Palaestra, Sanctuary of Zeus (The Altis), Olympia, Greece

Date

3rd Century BCE

Description

The palaestra is situated west of the Altis enclosure, near the Kladeos river. Built in the third century BCE as part of the gymnasium complex, it was used to practice boxing, wrestling and jumping. This almost-square building had an open court in the center that was surrounded by a Doric colonnade of 72 columns and laid with sand on which the athletes trained. The columns and lower courses of the walls were of stone, the upper courses of the walls of brick and the entablature of wood. Currently, only the lower, stone-built parts are preserved, and thirty-two of the seventy-two columns of the internal peristyle have been restored. --http://odysseus.culture.gr/h/2/eh251.jsp?obj_id=537

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