Destination · Corinthia & NemeaAncient Nemea

The Nemean Games were one of the four Panhellenic athletics festivals of the classical world, held every two years in honour of Zeus. The sanctuary contains a partly restored Doric Temple of Zeus (the columns were re-erected stone by stone in the 1990s and 2000s, an exemplary anastylosis), the foundations of priests’ houses and bath buildings, and — five minutes’ walk away — the stadium, which is the unique feature. The stadium has its original stone start-line, with the toe-grooves still visible; the athletes’ tunnel (a vaulted entrance from the athletes’ apodyterion, oldest known of its kind, 4th c. BC) is intact and walkable, with the original graffiti on the walls. Every four years, in June, the revived Nemean Games are held here — anyone can run barefoot in a chiton on the original track. The on-site museum (€6 combined ticket) is small but exceptional — finds from the sanctuary and the stadium, classical bronzes. Allow two hours total. Combine with the Nemea wineries five minutes away.