> 
> Olympia > 
Lighting the Torch at the Temple of Hera
Used and rebuilt over a period of years, it is one of the oldest temples in Greece.
This was a temple as far back as 650BCE. Originally with columns of wood, it was slowly replaced over time with stone of various styles. Even when Pausanias visited there were still some wood columns.
Inside was a statue of Hera (seated) and Zeus (standing).
It measures 164 by 62 feet.
The temple from the southwest corner. Portions of about 30 columns are still standing (a few have been restored).
It does not follow the pattern of the longer side having 2x+1 columns compared to x on the short side in that it is 16 by 6 instead.
The temple from the northeast corner. Many sacred objects were stored in the temple.
The flame lighting ceremony takes place here just to the east of the temple.
There is no particular connection to this location - it is a nice open space near the stadium that was probably near the temple's altar.
This shot from the video of the 90 minute ceremony for the 2012 winter games. There is no ancient analog to this ceremony or to the torch itself. It was created for the 1936 games. A parabolic mirror concentrates the rays from the sun (sun-god Apollo) and lights the torch.
In 2012 the high priestess was played by Ino Menegaki, an actress who has done this a few times before. She has a strong background in classical theater including performing at Epidaurus. Each time the ceremony is slightly different but it always features priestesses lighting the torch.
We tried our hand at raising some Olympic spirit (2013 class).