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mariosdarios
Olympia was not the only athletics venue in ancient Greece. A fine example of this, is ancient Nemea and its archaeological site. Thanks to recent restoration work funded by institutions based in the USA, we can now admire part of the ancient temple of Zeus.Make sure you pay a visit while traveling to Nemea proper, the famous wine producing region of Northern Peloponnese with its Agiorgitiko variety, an ancient Greek grape variety.
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Discerninguest
Nemea has a special, haunting quality that I had not expected. I planned a visit here for my Classical Civilisation students because Olympia and Elis were simply too far from our Athens base but it really did not feel like second best. WIth a bit of imagination and knowledge, you can see the layout of the games' site very clearly. The tunnel through which the athletes entered the stadium has been beautifully restored and the kids loved running through it whooping as they went (we had the site to ourselves!). We examined the starting sill, raced up and down the track and checked the sightlines that spectators would have had watching from the banks. I have moaned about/offered helpful criticism to the staff of a couple of attractions we visited on our Classical tour but to the lovely Christine at Nemea, I would merely say keep on doing what you are doing. We arrived here saddened by the rudeness of the officials at Epidauros and the boys were very nervous about doing anything. Christine reassured them that it was fine to run round the track and try the echo in the tunnel. She also produced some anti-histamine cream for my son who had been stung by a wasp. The other part of the site is where the bathhouse, the Temple and the training ground would have been.The signs are helpful and the small museum is interesting. This and Thorikos were the highlights of the trip!
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ElleGolightly
This was an unplanned visit which proved to be surprisingly interesting. The main site contains the museum (shut on the day we visited), temple and bathhouse as well as other ancillary buildings. The baths in particular seemed quite well preserved with the original sinks still in place. The best bit however was the stadium with its intact tunnel linking it to the area where the athletes warmed up. Although nothing remains bar the channels round the edge which contained water and the original starting blocks it is a surprisingly atmospheric site. It appears that certain ancient sites including this one close early on a Monday at 3pm and there were people being turned away when we left so check opening times in advance.
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anthbike
The site at Nemea, half an hour's drive or so away from Mikenes, is mercifully empty of the tour buses that plague the car park at the more famous site. In fact there is only one other small group of tourists as we arrive, and they're in the process of leaving. It's a pretty little place (sadly the small museum which was promised as excellent is closed), split over two locations. The main area contains scattered remains of baths, with sinks and terracotta plumbing perfectly visible. There also stand five or six columns of a temple, which you can scramble around, touching stone hewn more than 2000 years ago. These columns are the result of some remarkable restoration work involving the University of California and Greek counterparts, putting the columns back together, using the pieces that are lying scattered about. Some may question the purpose of all of the effort, but there's an undeniable interest and intrigue in wanting to see more of those immense columns going up.Part two of the Nemean visit is perhaps the more interesting, taking in an ancient stadium that formed part of the Panhellenic Games (the most famous being the revived Olympic Games, which for the ancient Greeks was only one of four major sporting events). The track is there, the sun reflecting off the white earth, making it seem impossible that any athletic endeavour could be undertaken (I resisted the temptation to strip naked, as the Greeks were, and test the assumption), the sloped sides only having ever contained a few stone seats, though around 15,000 spectators would be held in the thrall of those performing. There's an atmosphere here, the spirits of the competitors living in the dust, with some pleasure taken from knowing you're stood on the very space where two millenia ago cheers and adulation cried out.There are remains of the water tracks that ran around the outside; and of the starting gate, the holes in the stone for the roped poles now used again in recreated games (now fully clothed, and including female competitors). The best aspect, however, is the discovered and excavated tunnel that runs from the once grand warm-up, de-robing and oiling room, into the stadium itself. Now fully dug-out (again by members of the University of California) you can enter the stadium in the same way as the athletes before you. It's a truly superb feeling.
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MariaDanai
A small though very interesting archaeological site where part of the Temple of Zeus stands, a temple that was constructed using three orders of achritecture. The archaeological museum (in the site) is certainly worth a visit. It is small but with very interesting exhibits. The biggest part of the area findings are exposed there.The Stadium, where the Nemean Games where taking place, and its well-preserved tunnel entrance is located on the other side of the main road.
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jillyanr
Having visited the large sites at Epidavros and nearby Mycenae we had no high expectations of lesser known Nemea but we found it very evocative. The temple to Zeus and is interesting but only partly excavated but do go into the museum. There are lots of artifacts of course but we found the little video on the starting mechanism for the races absolutely fascinating. It was then quite wonderful to enter the stadium through the tunnel and put ones toes on the original blocks used by the athletes over 2000years ago. The site is beautiful with flowers everywhere and we had the place to ourselves so you could run up and down without feeling a fool.
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Hoborun
We decided to have a quick look at the ruins on our way back to Athens and were pleasantly surprised by the variety of the ruins at 2 separate but nearby locations. Plus the setting is quite pleasant with low hills in the surrounding area.We were probably most impressed by the museum which was more extensive than we would have expected for a archaeological site of this size. This was probably due to the fact that it was funded by a major US university. Also had a tasty and reasonably priced meal at the small restaurant situated between the sites.
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Fane_Babanul
Nemea was the site of ancient athletic competitions that gathered sportsmen from all over Peloponnese and beyond.There is an athletic stadium and the remains of an adjacent temple.A small museum displays local archeological findings.
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RNH82
This site is a little off the beaten path depending on how you are getting around in Greece. Not sure if any tours actually go here but while driving back to Athens from Olympia we decided to make the stop. Here is where the Nemean games were played (and revived in some fashion recently). They have a museum which was actually informative if you have an interest in the ancient games. There were a lot of elements such as Discus that Nemea had in the museum.We did not go to the stadium as we had been to Olympia and honestly, at this point, were a little run down. The thing that I enjoyed the most was the Temple of Zeus. You actually were allowed to walk on the ruins. That was pretty breathtaking. Every other site we had been to you could get close, but couldn't actually walk around the Temple remains. For me, that was worth the time to go here. The town it is in is small but very pretty. Kind of in a lowland valley. If you are going to pass by the area, I would recommend the stop. I don't think I would make a special trip though just to see this place.
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8AndyC
We have visited Nemea two years running. During our first visit the museum was closed and we didn't visit the stadium. I glad that we returned again this year. The tranquillity of the setting is stunning. I would recommend to buy the book in the museum ("Nemea: Guide to the site and museum" by Stephen Miller), as you get a great description of the baths, the Temple of Zeus, and the nearby stadium. A previous reviewer spent just 10 minutes at the stadium, but with our guide to the numbered vantage points, we enjoyed it for over an hour. The temple had just 3 columns standing from the 5th century AD (when they were pushed over to reuse the bases for the nearby Byzantine church), until the 1980s when reconstruction began. Now there are 9, meticulously re-erected using the correct stones. Hopefully more will be done in the future. Nemea is close to the motorway, so spend 2 or 3 hours here, and you will not be disappointed.
