TempleClosed 1 January, 25 March, 1 May, Orthodox Easter Sunday, 25 December, 26 December

Temple of Olympian Zeus

#4of 10 places to visit in AthensAthens, Attica, Greece

Also known as Olympieion · Naos tou Olympiou Dios

Quick answer

Opening hours: 08:00–20:00 and 08:00–15:00, last entry 19:30. Entry: €8. Allow 45 min. Best time: Late afternoon in summer.

Updated 18 September 2026 · Compiled by Traveliac, AI-assisted · 4 min read

Get directionsOfficial site

Photo: Jean-Pierre Dalbéra from Paris, France / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0

Opening hours: 08:00–15:00; 1 April–31 October: 08:00–20:00 daily, last entry 19:30. 1 November–31 March: 08:00–15:00 daily, last entry 14:30
Entry fee: €8; Ticket from
Time needed: 45 min
Best time of day: Late afternoon in summer
Best months: Apr – Jun, Sep – Oct
Address: Vasilissis Olgas Avenue, 10557 Athens, Greece

About Temple of Olympian Zeus

The Temple of Olympian Zeus once held 104 Corinthian columns, each 17 metres tall and 1.7 metres in diameter, of which 15 survive standing and a 16th lies where it fell during a storm in 1852. Construction began around 520 BCE under the Athenian tyrant Peisistratos but was abandoned for financial and political reasons after his sons were overthrown, leaving the foundations exposed for over three centuries. Roman Emperor Hadrian, an enthusiastic admirer of Greek culture, finally completed the temple in 131 CE — roughly 638 years after it was begun — and installed a colossal gold-and-ivory statue of Zeus inside, plus a matching statue of himself beside it, a gesture of self-association with the god that Greek sources treat with some ambivalence.

Best time of day: Late afternoon in summer. When the low sun angles through the surviving columns and the site is less crowded than the nearby Acropolis.

Temple of Olympian Zeus timings

Opening hours: 08:00–15:00; Mon–Sun 08:00–20:00 and 08:00–15:00; 1 April–31 October: 08:00–20:00 daily, last entry 19:30. 1 November–31 March: 08:00–15:00 daily, last entry 14:30
Closed on: 1 January, 25 March, 1 May, Orthodox Easter Sunday, 25 December, 26 December

Mon–Sun	08:00–20:00 and 08:00–15:00

Opening hours compiled from tickets.hh.gr and public records, last updated 18 September 2026. They change without notice — confirm before you travel. How we write these guides

Temple of Olympian Zeus ticket price

Entry fees for Temple of Olympian Zeus
Ticket	Price
Standard ticket	€8
Concession (student / senior)	€4
Children	Free

Adult ticket €8, concession €4 (over-65s and non-EU visitors aged 6-25), as of 2026. EU citizens under 25 enter free with ID; children 0-5 free. Verify at tickets.hh.gr before visiting, as site fees are reviewed periodically.

Prices compiled from tickets.hh.gr and public records, last updated 18 September 2026. They change without notice — confirm before you travel. How we write these guides

Best time to visit Temple of Olympian Zeus

Quiet
Moderate

08:00 – 10:00
Morning OpeningBest time to go
Few visitors this early; most itineraries prioritise the Acropolis first thing.
Quiet
10:00 – 13:00
Mid-Morning
Visitors arriving after the Acropolis or en route to the Stadium pass through; still comfortable to move around.
Moderate
13:00 – 16:00
Midday Heat
Sun exposure with no shade keeps numbers down in summer despite being open.
Quiet
17:00 – 19:30
Late Afternoon
Best light for photography; a modest uptick in visitors timing their visit for sunset colour on the columns.
Moderate

History of Temple of Olympian Zeus

Peisistratos's original 6th-century BCE design followed the older Doric order at a scale meant to rival the greatest temples of Ionia, but work stopped almost immediately after his death and the site remained a field of unfinished column drums for centuries — Aristotle later cited the abandoned project as an example of tyrannical overreach. The Hellenistic king Antiochus IV of Syria restarted construction around 174 BCE using Roman architect Cossutius and switching the design to the more ornate Corinthian order, but this phase also stalled when Antiochus died in 164 BCE. Hadrian's completion in 131 CE coincided with his founding of Hadrian's Arch immediately adjacent, a gateway marking the boundary between the old city of Theseus and 'the city of Hadrian.' The temple's decline began with the sack of Athens by the Herulians in 267 CE and accelerated through the medieval period, when its marble was systematically quarried for lime-burning and new construction; a single storm in 1852 toppled one of the last standing columns, whose drums remain scattered on the ground exactly where they fell.

Rules & etiquette at Temple of Olympian Zeus

The site is compact and entirely outdoors with minimal shade, so a visit in the middle of a summer afternoon is uncomfortable rather than dangerous — 20 to 30 minutes is typically enough. Paths are flat gravel and paved stone, more accessible than the Acropolis or Ancient Agora. Photography is unrestricted for personal use; the standing columns against the sky make this one of the more straightforward sites in Athens for wide-angle shots without crowds in frame. Hadrian's Arch, immediately outside the ticketed perimeter on Vasilissis Amalias Avenue, is visible and photographable free of charge from the street.

Tips for visiting Temple of Olympian Zeus

1
Because the site takes under an hour, pairing it with the Panathenaic Stadium (a 10-minute walk northeast) or the Acropolis and Plaka (a 10-minute walk northwest) makes for an efficient half-day loop through Athens's classical core. The single toppled column, lying in sections near the eastern group of standing columns, is easy to miss if moving quickly — it is the clearest physical evidence of the 1852 storm and worth the extra two minutes to find. There is no café or shop on-site; the National Garden borders the temple grounds to the north and offers shaded benches and a kiosk for a break immediately after the visit.

How to reach Temple of Olympian Zeus

The red star is Temple of Olympian Zeus; the numbered pins are the 8 nearest places in our guides, each showing its rank in its city. Tap a pin for details.

Vasilissis Olgas Avenue, 10557 Athens, GreeceDirections in Google Maps

From Athens International Airport (ATH)
30 km · 45-55 min
€9 single airport fare
From Syntagma Square
1 km · 12 min walk
Free (walking)
From Akropoli metro station
0.7 km · 9 min walk
Free (walking)

Nearest airport

From Athens International Airport Eleftherios Venizelos (ATH)

30 km, approximately 40–50 minutes via metro Line 3 to Syntagma then a short walk or tram.

Nearest station

From Akropoli metro station (Line 2)

700 m, a 9-minute walk along Dionysiou Areopagitou and Vasilissis Olgas.

Temple of Olympian Zeus FAQs

Why did the Temple of Olympian Zeus take over 600 years to build?

Construction began under Peisistratos around 520 BCE but was abandoned after his sons were overthrown; the project restarted under Antiochus IV around 174 BCE and stalled again at his death in 164 BCE. Roman Emperor Hadrian finally completed the temple in 131 CE, closing a gap of roughly 638 years from the original start.

How many of the original 104 columns are still standing?

Fifteen columns remain standing today. A sixteenth column lies on the ground in sections after being toppled by a storm in 1852, and its fallen drums are still visible near the eastern group.

Is Hadrian's Arch included in the temple ticket?

No, Hadrian's Arch stands just outside the ticketed perimeter on Vasilissis Amalias Avenue and can be viewed and photographed free of charge from the public street without an entry ticket.

How long does a visit to the Temple of Olympian Zeus take?

Thirty to forty-five minutes is typical, since the site is a single open field of columns with a short circular walking path and no indoor exhibits.

Compiled with AI assistance from official sources and public records, and published only after the checks in How we write these guides. Nobody from Traveliac has visited this place. Last updated 18 September 2026. How we rank and check places