Dating from ca. 456 BCE, this was one of the largest temples in Greece. It contained a massive cult statue of Zeus, a masterwork of the famous sculptor Pheidias and was considered one of the 7 wonders of the ancient world. The statue was moved to Constantinople and destroyed in a fire in 475 CE.

A major earthquake in the 6th cent. CE tossed a number of the columns.

There was a separate (and older) massive ash mound that was the altar to Zeus, it's location is only approximately known (thought to be north of the temple site).

The temple was constructed with funds from war booty obtained by Elis' defeat of Pisa (a neighboring town). Large and very expensive, the temple asserted Elis control of the sanctuary.