Tempio di Giove Olimpico
Tempio di Giove Olimpico
4.5
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4.5
273 reviews
Excellent
146
Very good
83
Average
38
Poor
5
Terrible
1
Annika S
Germany63 contributions
Apr 2016 • Friends
You will simplex get blown away by the size of the temple and its columns and karyatids. Just imagine the man power they needed to complete this one
Written 26 August 2016
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
KTGP
Adelaide, Australia5,865 contributions
Apr 2016 • Couples
Tempio di Giove Olimpico/Temple of Olympian Zeus, this is one of the few temples on the site which scholars are confident as to who it was dedicated. Built in 480BC to commemorate the victory over Carthage at the battle of Himera. The temple rather than columns forming a colonnade, had walls with seven half columns front and back and fourteen down the sides, the columns were nearly 17 metres high, with the base having a diameter of 4 metres. In between the columns were 8 metre high telamons/atlantes, appearing as if holding up the temple. The telamon on the site is a copy, the original is in the Agrigento Regional Archaeology Museum. This temple is one of the biggest ever built in antiquity, it measured 112.7 metres X 56.3 metres and due to the 406BC invasion was never finished. The Carthaginians in 406BC destroyed the temple, (was there anything they didn’t destroy?), then earthquakes caused further damage and according to historian Thomas Fazellok, the last three telamon fell on the 9th December 1401. Like so many of these ancient treasures, their materials were plundered to create other structures and this glorious temple suffered the same fate, it was quarried in the 18th century to create buildings for Porto Empedocle.
While the other temples on the site can be marvelled at, this one is very sad and magnificent at the same time and along with Tempio di Ercole was a favourite. Even in its current state if it isn’t possible to envisage what it may have looked like, the sheer size of capitals and columns, leaves you in no doubt how mighty this temple once may have been.
While the other temples on the site can be marvelled at, this one is very sad and magnificent at the same time and along with Tempio di Ercole was a favourite. Even in its current state if it isn’t possible to envisage what it may have looked like, the sheer size of capitals and columns, leaves you in no doubt how mighty this temple once may have been.
Written 26 July 2016
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Pauline A
Yerevan, Armenia19 contributions
Sept 2013 • Solo
A well worth visit and a great day out if you want some history. Took me right back to the Acropolis in Athens. Make sure you're prepared with comfortable shoes and have a bottle of water on you. I was there in Sept, though the weather had cooled off a little it was still very hot. There was only one cafe outside but not inside and it was closed for some unknown reason. However, really interesting site, and a must-see outside of Greece.
Written 9 October 2013
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Vadim
Murmansk, Russia34,642 contributions
July 2019
You must have a strong imagination to imagine this temple in reality. If you do not want to strain yourself, then there is a model of the temple in the archaeological Museum of Agrigento. The temple of Olympian Zeus was the largest Doric temple in the world. Rather, it should have been. However, it was not completed yet. The roof, apparently, was never erected. The Carthaginians have nothing to do with it. The temple was not completed by 406, when they burned Akragas. It is a shame that the temple survived the barbarian invasions, the middle ages and was destroyed in 1401 by the earthquake and the subsequent removal of columns and walls for the construction of houses and piers in Agrigento and Porto Empedocle...
Written 1 March 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Alan H
London, UK343 contributions
Apr 2016 • Couples
The scale of this temple is impressive (it was one of the largest in the Greek world) but it is in ruins so is a lot less interesting to visit than the Temple of Concordia or the other temples on site.
Written 3 May 2016
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Ettorevianna
Sao Paulo, SP110 contributions
May 2012 • Couples
one more temple at Kolimbetra calling for help and restauration.
Written 24 June 2012
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
redeco
Warren, MA9,319 contributions
Apr 2011
The Temple of Olympian Zeus is massive, covering an area large enough to contain a football stadium for 42,000 spectators. The enormous Doric temple included seven columns across the front and back and fourteen on each side. It stood on a large rectangular platform with five steps leading to the entrance. Remains of the front steps give a good idea of how large this building was. Diodorus, an ancient writer confirms the dimensions of the temple and tells us that it remained unfinished and without a roof.
The site requires a lot of imagination and to the untrained eye looks like a jumble of large blocks of stone. But careful study soon reveals a beautiful Doric capital, many foundations, the front steps, a sacrificial area out front, and a Telemon or human figure used in the construction of some of the pilasters. The site is pretty open and visitors can easily explore this temple without some of the restrictions and barriers at other Valley of the Temple sites.
I particularly enjoyed looking about these ruins. Don't miss this one.
The site requires a lot of imagination and to the untrained eye looks like a jumble of large blocks of stone. But careful study soon reveals a beautiful Doric capital, many foundations, the front steps, a sacrificial area out front, and a Telemon or human figure used in the construction of some of the pilasters. The site is pretty open and visitors can easily explore this temple without some of the restrictions and barriers at other Valley of the Temple sites.
I particularly enjoyed looking about these ruins. Don't miss this one.
Written 21 April 2011
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
InTheMomentManhattan
New York City, NY1,107 contributions
Feb 2022
The temple is not very well preserved. However, there is enough remaining to develop a good idea of how it onced looked
Written 19 May 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
phat_dawg_21
Alpharetta, GA16,976 contributions
June 2021
This once magnificent temple has been reduced to piles of rocks by earthquakes, invaders and well meaning builders. This is an example of what happens when people take the expedient route and treat an ancient site as a quarry, removing the blocks and columns for construction of new buildings.
Written 3 August 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
swtraveler15
Springfield, MA1,533 contributions
Dec 2019
Part of the reason we travel is not just to view perfectly preserved historical monuments but also to use our imagination to visualize what it actually looked like and the people who inhabited and used the site. That is one of the feelings you need to have to enjoy the Tempio di Giove Olimpico. As you view the ruins, you can mentally "build" the temple and restore it to it's former glory at least in your mind.
Written 25 January 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
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