The Leonidaion, Olympia, Greece

Casual observers often have difficulties warming up to building remains that have been leveled to the ground. However, the Leonidaion in the southwest section of the archaeological site at Olympia is an exception. A unique feature, the pool and garden structure at its centre, makes this ruin one of the more intriguing profane buildings of the site.

The Leonidaion takes its name from Leonidas of Naxos, who was both its architect and financial sponsor. The original building was constructed around 330 BC (in the time of Alexander the Great) on very regular plan (http://tinyurl.com/8wmrt). During the Hellenistic period, the Leonidaion was a luxury guest house.

The almost square building was surrounded by an outer colonnade in the Ionic style, which is clearly visible in the picture's foreground and extending away from the viewer. The wings, represented in the picture by low walls, were divided into regular units, with 6 larger ones being located in the west wing and 12 smaller ones in each of the other wings. The rooms opened onto a central courtyard surrounded by a Doric peristyle, whose column stumps are visible further away. The bushes toward the center left mark the former location of the courtyard. The large stone block in the front at the bottom left once supported a statue.

The building was entered from the north and south sides. The picture shows the narrow, brick-paved passage of the south entrance. It leads to the peristyle and courtyard from where the rooms were accessed.

In the Roman period, the internal divisions of the wings were rearranged on a more irregular plan (http://tinyurl.com/dtwsg). More importantly, the courtyard was replaced by a pool with a garden island in the shape of a four-leaf clover at its centre. This island surrounded another, circular pool-and-island structure. The flowering bushes, a modern reminder of a vanished Roman garden, stand on the outer island, with the inner island is clearly visible between them. This water and garden feature gives the Leonidaion its distinctive and eye-catching appearance that is particularly evident in aerial photographs (e.g., http://tinyurl.com/7jm6w, where the Leonidaion is in the left corner of the picture).

Pausanias, who wrote his Description of Greece around AD 174, refers to the Leonidaion in a few passages in his description of Olympia (V.xv.1-4 and VI.xii.1, the text is available in English at http://tinyurl.com/86trg, a Greek version can also be accessed from there). Unfortunately, he offers no description but only names Leonidas as the architect and states its contemporary use as the quarters of Roman officials. Otherwise, he merely uses it as a reference point for locating statues and other monuments he is more interested in.

Like many other buildings in Olympia, the Leonidaion was severely damaged and eventually destroyed by human action and earthquakes in the 3rd to 6th centuries AD. What remained was covered by river sediments until archaeologists arrived in the 19th cent.

All links in this post lead to pages of the Perseus project, which is hosted by Tufts University. Its copyright notice can be read at: http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/copyright.html. Three cheers to all who have helped to make this outstanding resource available on the net!

I took the pictures in this post on June 4 & 5, 2005 and retain copyright. Commercial/for profit use without explicit written permission is strictly prohibited. If you wish to use these pictures for non-profit/non-commercial use, please notify me and credit them properly.

Cardinal Flower

The cardinal flower (Lobelia cardinalis) is one of many beautiful flowers that grow in the Beaver Valley of Ontario. It has been one of my favourites since I first saw a cardinal flower years ago on a canoe trip along the Beaver River, where it grew out in the open on an old beaver den.

I found the plant in the pictures on Labour Day weekend while walking along Mill Creek towards Duncan. This one grew in a fairly shady spot similar to the one shown below. The location on a stream bank is typical.

Cardinal flowers grow in a large part of North America. I don't know if they form stands elsewhere but, at least around here, they seem to be sporadic and usually only one or at most a few plants can be found in any given spot.

There are several other lobelia species in North America. Most have blue flowers, and many allegedly have medicinal properties. The most potent medicinal species is Indian tobacco (Lobelia inflata) with a tradition of use that extends back to the pre-Columbian period. It is apparently still used as an herbal treatment for asthma and other respiratory problems. The cardinal flower's medicinal effects are described as being similar but much milder, so it isn't used much. The following sites (among many others) list uses and references for further reading. It is unlikely that it really works for all the listed afflictions: www.ibiblio.org/pfaf/cgi-bin/arr_html?Lobelia+cardinalis and http://botanical.com/botanical/mgmh/l/lobeli38.html. The cardinal flower is also potentially poisonous so it's best to check with a qualified medical practitioner before using it.

Since I am becoming more and more interested in growing water plants, I think I may try my hand at water lobelia (Lobelia dortmanna) somewhen in the future if I can find a garden center that carries them.

Fossils in Building Material at Olympia, Greece

Many buildings at the ancient site of the Olympic games were built in a gray local stone that is packed with marine shell fossils. The Palaistra or wrestling school shown in the picture is a typical example. This stone is prone to weathering, so over time the shells are evident either as holes or as clearly profiled forms.

Where weathering has laid bare the shell casts, the scene is reminiscent of a shell-littered beach. Many shells were obviously fragmented before they were deposited and I saw no evidence of two cockle shells still being hinged together. It is likely that the shells were washed around for some time between the animal's death and the time of deposit. However, a fair number were fossilized in excellent condition.

These two pictures show the surface of building stone blocks. Cockles are by far the most common type of shell. They are easily recognized by the ribbing and half-heart shape. When both shells are hinged together, they look like a heart. Modern cockle species prefer mud or fine to medium sand into which they burrow. They are widely distributed around the globe in the intertidal zone and at varying depths of the subtidal zone. Cockles reproduce quickly because they are hermaphrodites, which is unusual for bivalves.

However, cockles are not the only type of shell found in building materials from Olympia. The following pictures show sections of the wall next to the door of the Byzantine church. Several gastropod shells are clearly visible.

The next picture shows a column section. Instead of exposing the shell casts, weathering has removed them from the stone matrix, giving the column a pock-marked appearance.

Olympia is located in a geological structure called the Pyrgos basin, which covers a large part of the NW Peloponnese. Its bedrock mostly consists of Plio-Pleistocene sediments with older Pliocene sediments cropping up over large sections-- not very old in geological terms (5 - 1.8 million years ago). The adjoining areas (and the entire central Peloponnese) are covered by older Mesozoic rocks.


I took the pictures in this page on June 4 & 5, 2005. No commercial/for profit use is permitted without my written permission. Please let me know if you plan to use these pictures for private or non-profit purposes and credit them properly.