Temple of Olympian Zeus & Hadrian’s Arch in Athens, Greece | Olympieion

The Temple of the Olympian Zeus, known as Olympieion, also called Columns of the Olympian Zeus, is situated in Athens, Greece. Approximately 500 m south-east of the Acropolis and the Acropolis Museum and about 700 m south of the center of Athens, Syntagma Square. It was the largest temple in ancient Greece and took several hundreds of years to be completed.
Construction started in the 6th century BC during the rule of Athenian tyrants. It was under the reign of Roman emperor Hadrian when the temple was completed in the 2nd century AD. About 638 years after the project had began.

The temple was seriously damaged, plundered, abandoned and left to ruins.

Today only fifteen columns stand tall, one having collapsed during a storm in 1852. The northern part of the archaeological site contains the preserved remains of a gate of the Themistoclean Wall [479/8 BC], of dwellings [5th/4th BC- 2nd c. AD] and of a Roman Balneum [bathhouse].

Hadrian’s Arch
The Arch of Hadrian, most commonly known in Greek as Hadrian's Gate, is a monumental gateway resembling—in some respects—a Roman triumphal arch. The entire monument is made of Pentelic marble, from Mt. Pentelikon, 18.2 km northeast of the arch. Pentelic marble was used for the Parthenon and many other notable structures in Athens. The arch was constructed without cement or mortar from solid marble, using clamps to connect the cut stones. It is 18m high, 13.5m wide, and 2.3m in depth. Its design is fully symmetrical from front to back and side to side.

Hours
From 1st of April until 31 of August 08:00 - 20:00
Last entrance to the Site at 19:30
On the 1st of September the opening hours apply, due to a gradual reduction in the length of the day, as follows:
1st to 15th September 08:00 - 19:30
Last entrance to the Site at 19:00
16th to 30th September 08:00 - 19:00
Last entrance to the Site at 18:30
1st to 15th October 08:00 - 18:30
Last entrance to the Site at 18:00 and
16th to 31st October 08:00 - 18:00
Last entrance to the Site at 17:30