virtual reality tour olympia

How it works

Ancient olympia, experiential learning, the first virtual reality educational experience about ancient olympia.

KotinosVR takes you through Virtual Reality at the birthplace of the Olympic Games, in a feel-like real, interactive experience.

A virtual guide to the treasures of ancient Olympia’s archaeological museum, complemented with fun educational activities inspired by the exhibits, the Olympic games and ancient Greek culture.

An exciting learning experience, designed for the digital generation and students of all ages.

Join our crowdfunding campaign on Indiegogo and help us make it a reality.

Main Features

• 360° environment for an immersive experience
• Full 3D Scanned Rooms give a real-life feeling
• HDR Physical Based Textures for exceptional quality in images
• 3D models of selected exhibits for better understanding

Virtual Tour

You choose how to live it.

Text: Read the story of each exhibit Audio: Audio narration of the tour Video: Take a full 360 ° video tour inside the museum Avatar: Let Athena, our owl avatar guide you

Will be available in Greek and English and with a view to expanding the information to the 10 most popular languages in the world.

Fun Educational Experiences

Mixing education with entertainment, to evaluate, reflect and expand knowledge.

Check your knowledge Take a quiz after your visit in each room and reflect on what you’ve just experienced.

Recreate the masterpieces Find parts of selected exhibits, piece them together and get extra information.

Discover the stories Find hidden Greek words, learn their meaning and unlock stories about the Olympic Games and their ideals.

Learn more Interactive quizzes about the Olympic Games and life in ancient Olympia.

Paint the exhibits Interact with some of the museum findings and paint them with your own colours.

Gamification

To maximise enjoyment and inspire students to continue learning.

Collect olive wreaths, for every completed activity. Get a gold, silver or bronze olive wreath, depending on your overall performance.

See your name on KOTINOS’ Wall of Fame.

In a world shaped by digital culture, it’s our responsibility to provide future generations with knowledge that truly matters.

Simple as that.

KotinosVR can be accessed through any desktop or latest mobile device (laptop, tablet, cell phone).

For the full VR experience you can use the following VR devices:

• Oculus Rift
• Samsung Gear VR
• Google Cardboard

Virtual Reality devices are now becoming accessible to more. Let’s use this technology to create exciting learning experiences.

Why support us?

It's for a good cause..

For the first time the treasures and ideals of ancient Greece will be experienced through Virtual Reality. KotinosVR will be available for free to all public schools around the world.

Olympia has cultivated ideals since ancient times. For students of all ages it’s an exciting subject matter, that offers valuable life lessons and leaves room for thought and reflection.

Your support means that students of all ages, will experience and learn about one of the most influential cultures in history.

You will help in spreading the ideals of ancient Greece to the modern world.

In addition, you will be among the first to experience KotinosVR.

Philotimo (filotimo; Greek: φιλότιμο) describes a complex array of virtues and is almost impossible to translate sufficiently. It is about getting more satisfaction from giving than from taking.

How you can help

There are two ways., make a contribution.

The best way to help is to join us on Indiegogo and make your financial contribution.

In return you will be one of the first to experience KotinosVR and live the ancient Olympia experience.

Talk about it

Share our story with people or organisations you think are interested in it. Let you local schools, colleges, universities and educators know. Share our campaign on your social media channels. Connect with us on facebook and twitter and share our content.

We are really excited to bring KotinosVR to you and hopefully together we can make it a reality.

Α place of outstanding universal value.

The most celebrated sanctuary of ancient Greece. The birthplace of the Olympic games. The ideals of Hellenic Humanism. The symbolic reward of an olive wreath (greek: κότινος, kotinos). A universal symbol of peace and fair competition.

There are not many places in the world with the cultural value of ancient Olympia.

According to Unesco, it has been established in the history of culture as the most important religious, political and sports centre. (Source: UNESCO )

Ancient Olympia’s museum exhibits go back to 8th c. BC and include some of the world’s masterpieces in the history of art, like Hermes of Praxiteles and Nike of Paionios.

New generation needs new ways to learn.

We tend to remember 10% of what we read, 20% of what we hear and 90% of what we do or simulate.

Immersive Virtual reality for learning is about realistic simulations where students of all ages have an active role, make decisions and go through a series of interactive experiences.

This makes learning engaging, exciting and effective.

Now that Virtual Reality becomes more accessible to all is the time to create exciting learning experiences for the digital generation.

“For the things we have to learn before we can do them, we learn by doing them.”  —  Aristotle (350 BC)

Did you know?

We are a Virtual Reality start up based in Greece. We are inspired by the philosophy and life of ancient Greeks and the values of Hellenic humanism. We want to make this important heritage accessible to the world, in an interactive and never seen before way.

KotinosVR is the first of a series of learning applications that gets you into the most important ancient Greek museums and monuments, through immersive virtual reality.

We are proud to have received all the necessary documents of approval from the Central Archaeological Museum of the Greek Ministry of Culture for the development of the application. We now run a crowd funding campaign on INDIEGOGO to make our dream a reality.

Help us bring the learning from the past, into the future. Help us create a unique learning experience for all.

Download our press kit

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Join our mailing list to receive the latest news and updates from our team.

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TravelAwaits

Our mission is to serve the 50+ traveler who's ready to cross a few items off their bucket list.

New Digital Tour Allows Visitors To Explore Ancient Olympia During First Olympics

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The ancient Olympics in Greece may have been held more than 2,000 years ago, but it’s now possible to explore ancient Olympia through an immersive experience using a mobile app or using a PC or laptop. This is all thanks to a collaboration between Greece’s Hellenic Ministry of Culture and Sports and Microsoft. 

The project, called Ancient Olympia: Common Grounds, is a digital revival project “that aims to preserve and restore” the original home of the Olympic games using artificial intelligence (AI). It uses augmented reality to deliver a virtual re-creation of temples and competition areas as visitors walk through the ruins. 

Visitors who travel to the Athens Olympic Museum in Greece can also take a virtual tour that makes use of Microsoft’s HoloLens 2 mixed-reality headset, which overlays visual information on top of what the viewer actually sees to create an augmented reality experience.

“With the digital representation of the Panhellenic sanctuary of Ancient Olympia, its cultural heritage — but also the values of Olympism: peace, harmony, excellence, and noble rivalry — becomes accessible to the whole world through the use of state-of-the-art technology,” Lina Mendoni, Hellenic Republic Minister of Culture and Sports, said in a statement . “The digital preservation project, through the use of artificial intelligence and augmented reality technologies, implemented through the cultural sponsorship of Microsoft, promotes and highlights the unique and emblematic archaeological site of Ancient Olympia.”

Brad Smith, president and vice chairman of Microsoft, added that the project is “a stunning achievement in cultural heritage, bringing together humanity and cutting-edge technology to benefit the world and empower coming generations with new ways to explore our past.”

How It’s Possible

The first step in the project was for Microsoft to partner with the Greek Ministry of Culture and Sports. Next, through its AI for Cultural Heritage initiative, Microsoft partnered with Iconem, which specializes in digitizing historic sites, to create the foundational model of ancient Olympia. 

Both on-the-ground cameras and drones were used to take hundreds of thousands of images of the sites. Microsoft’s AI then processed the images to create models that are photorealistic.

Ancient Olympia: Common Grounds digitally preserves 27 monuments, including the original Olympic Stadium, temples of Zeus and Hera, and the workshop of the renowned sculptor Phidias. In the 3D experience, these buildings are recreated in lifelike detail thanks to research completed by the Hellenic Ministry’s archaeologists.

“Ancient Olympia: Common Grounds is a unique way of experiencing Greece’s proud cultural heritage,” Kyriakos Mitsotakis, Greece’s prime minister, said. “Visitors around the world can virtually visit the ancient site of Olympia and experience history firsthand using augmented reality technology.”

A Unique Experience

The first immersive tour was held earlier this week at the Athens Olympic Museum. Seventh and eighth-grade students from a local school “pinched, zoomed, and rotated the monuments that had been brought to life on their smartphones, flipping between inside and outside views as they toured the site where athletes in antiquity competed in running, javelin throwing, wrestling, boxing, horse racing, and other events,” an Associated Press story reports .

“The app is really impressive,” Panagiotis Christopoulos, one of the students, said in the story. “I think it can help with teaching in schools.”

Prime Minister Mitsotakis was also at the event. While watching the students, he told the Associated Press, “I’m absolutely thrilled that we’re able to present to the world a completely new cultural experience using technology to recreate the ancient world of Olympia.”

How You Can Take The Tour

The Ancient Olympia: Common Grounds Exhibition using the HoloLens 2 Virtual Tour is now open to the public at the Athens Olympic Museum. 

The good news is that you don’t need to travel to Greece to take the tour. The web experience may be viewed here , while an app may be downloaded from the iOS and Android app stores so you can take the virtual tour using your smartphone.

Be sure to also read all of our Greece coverage. You can also check out our history and culture coverage, including ruins and archaeology , architecture , and monuments .

Jim Fulcher has been a writer and editor his entire career. In addition to writing, he also enjoys traveling--particularly in an RV. Over the course of numerous trips, Jim has driven an RV through West Virginia, Virginia, Tennessee, Kentucky, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, Iowa, Nebraska, South Dakota, and Wyoming. His favorite national park is Yellowstone, which he has visited three times.

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Olympia walking tour with virtual reality glasses, the virtual reality glasses will make you feel like you transported back to ancient olympia. small and interesting stories will start automatically as you....

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Departs from, getting there, amenities included, amenities not included.

The ancient site of Olympia

In the west of the Peloponnese, at the foot of Mount Cronion, Olympia is undoubtedly one of the most emblematic archaeological sites in Greece!

The ancient Olympic Games – the ancestors of our current Games – are indeed named after this archaeological site, where they were created in the 8th century BC. But Olympia was also a major religious center, attracting pilgrims from all over the world.

Follow the guide!

⚠️ Olympia stands out as a must-visit destination in the Peloponnese. To skip the long lines, Captain Ulysses suggests securing your tickets ahead of time, particularly during peak season: E-ticket for the archaeological site and museum + an audio guide.

💡 Insider Tips 💡

Are you on the hunt for accommodations in Greece? Captain Ulysses wholeheartedly recommends booking your accommodation on Hotels.com: in the Peloponnese and Athens .

If you’re currently in the midst of planning your Greek getaway, be sure to check out Captain Ulysses’ captivating articles: A Guide to the Peloponnese and A Guide to Athens

Brief history of Olympia

Olympic games & cult of zeus.

Occupied since the 3 rd millennium B.C., the site of Olympia once was one of the most important religious centers of ancient Greece.

Dedicated to the cult of Zeus, the sanctuary hosted for over 1000 years (from 776 BC to 393 AD) the most famous Panhellenic games of Greece: the Olympic Games.

They were held every 4 years and brought together more than 40,000 people (athletes, spectators, merchants…). Participants competed in a series of events: horse racing, discus throwing, javelin throwing, long jump, running, wrestling…

🤔 What were panhellenic games? 🤔

The Panhellenic games were religious festivals gathering “all Hellenes” (= all the Greeks), on the occasion of which were held major athletic and artistic competitions.

The four great Panhellenic games organized in ancient Greece were: – the Olympic Games of Olympia – the Pythian Games of Delphi – the Isthmian Games of Corinth – the Nemean Games of Nemea

These games were held every year on a rotating basis. The tradition was partly preserved since the modern Olympic Games take place every four years.

The all of the Sanctuary of Olympia

In 373 AD, Roman emperor Theodosius I forbade all forms of pagan practices, celebrations and rites. In 426, the sanctuary of Olympia is destroyed on the orders of Emperor Theodosius II.

Between 522 and 551, a series of earthquakes destroyed most remaining traces of the ancient site.

The rediscovery of Olympia

Twelve centuries later, in 1766, the ruins of Olympia were discovered by the British archaeologist Richard Chandler. The excavations began in 1829.

Today many of the remains found on the site are exhibited in the archaeological museum of Olympia.

In 1989, the site was listed as a Unesco World Heritage Site.

The modern Olympic Games and the Olympic flame ceremony?

Imagined by the Frenchman Pierre de Coubertin in the late 19 th century, the modern Olympic Games are largely inspired by their Greek ancestors. The first Games were held in Athens in 1896. If each edition of the Olympic Games is now organized in a different country, the ceremony of the Olympic flame is on the other hand always held in Olympia, to celebrate the kinship between the ancient Games and the modern Games.

Every four years, a few months before the competition, actresses dressed as priestesses light the ancient flame in front of the temple of Hera during a ceremony inspired by ancient rituals.

Visiting Olympia

Map of the sanctuary of olympia.

In order not to get lost and not to miss anything of the archeological site, Captain Ulysses warmly advises you to follow the map of Olympia below:

🤓 Self-guided virtual reality tour 🤓

In Olympia, as in most archaeological sites, it is sometimes difficult to imagine what the monuments could possibly have looked like in ancient times.

But Captain Ulysses has found a way to discover what Olympia actually looked like during the Antiquity: a self-guided tour of the site in virtual reality. Equipped with virtual reality goggles, you’ll be able to discover Olympia as it was during Ancient Greece.

👉 More info: virtual reality self-guided tour of Olympia

The temple of Zeus

Built between 470 and 456 B.C. and funded byy a war booty, the temple of Olympian Zeus was an imposing 210-feet-long and 79-feet-wide Doric building.

The pediments of the temple (large sets of statues representing mythological scenes that decorated the east and west facades) are nowadays exhibited in the archaeological museum of Olympia.

⚡The chryselephantine statue of Zeus ⚡

The temple of Zeus was most famous for housing one of the seven wonders of the ancient world: the chryselephantine statue of Zeus (“chryselephantine” = made of gold and ivory), made by the sculptor Phidias.

This mythical 39.4-feet-high statue represented the god sitting on a throne of ebony and ivory. The statue was transferred to Constantinople in the 5 th century AD and was destroyed in a fire a few years later.

The temple of Hera

Built around 600 BC, the temple of Hera (also called the Heraion ) was dedicated to the wife of Zeus.

The 164-feet-long and 59-feet-wide building was built in the Doric style. The famous statue of Hermes of Praxiteles , which you’ll find in the archaeological museum of Olympia, was discovered in this temple.

Sports facilities

The sanctuary of Olympia – where the Olympic Games were created – comprised vast infrastructures where athletes competed in various physical events.

The stadium

The 231-yard-long and 30-yard-wide stadium was built in the 5 th century B.C. It was the 4 th stadium to be erected on the site, the three previous ones being too small to accommodate all the spectators wishing to attend the events.

On each of the four sides of this fourth stadium, an embankment could indeed accommodate 40 000 to 45 000 people!

The 218-yard-long and 13yard-wide gymnasium was lined with Doric porticoes. It hosted events such as the javelin throw, discus throw and running.

The palestra

Built in the 3 rd century BC, the palestra – where wrestling and long jump events were held – consisted of a central space surrounded by baths and small rooms where the athletes could talk with

their coaches.

The other monuments of Olympia

• The Bouleuterion where the assembly of the people was held and where the athletes took the oath before participating in the Games. This building also housed the Olympic Senate (the ancient equivalent of the International Olympic Committee).
• Pheidias’ workshop where the sculptor Pheidias fashioned the famous chryselephantine statue of Zeus, a masterpiece of the ancient world. In the 5 th century AD, a Byzantine church was built on the ruins of the workshop, but it was abandoned due to the earthquakes that struck the region several times in the 6 th century.

The museums of Olympia

To complete the visit of the archaeological site, Captain Ulysses warmly recommends a visit to the two museums of Olympia: the archaeological museum and the museum of the history of the Ancient Olympic Games.

If you only have the time (or the desire) to visit one, choose the first of the two, which houses exceptional artifacts discovered during the excavations of Olympia.

The archaeological museum of Olympia

Just a stone’s throw from the ancient site, the Archaeological Museum of Olympia is one of the most beautiful archaeological museums in Greece. It exhibits a plethora of vestiges discovered during the excavations of the site, dating from prehistory to the Roman period.

You’ll be able to discover – among many other things – the Hermes of Praxiteles (discovered in the temple of Hera), as well as the pediments of the temple of Zeus, but also a vast collection of bronze objects.

The museum of the history of the Ancient Olympic Games

Located between the archaeological site and the modern city of Olympia, the Museum of the History of the Ancient Olympic Games traces the history of the Games thanks to relics and reproductions. A nice visit if not a must-see!

Getting to Olympia

Where is olympia located.

Nestled at the foot of Mount Cronion, the archaeological site of Olympia is located in the west of the Peloponnese, about 20 kilometers/12.5 miles from the Ionian Sea.

Olympia is located some 300 kilometers/185 miles from Athens, 170 kilometers/105 miles from Mycenae and 200 kilometers/125 miles from Epidaurus .

How to get to Olympia?

To get to Olympia (as everywhere else) in the Peloponnese for that matter), the easiest way is to rent a car .

You can also take the bus from the capital, but it’s quite long and unpractical so the Captain would advise against it.

If you don’t want to/can’t drive, you can also opt for a day trip from Athens. While this is definitely not the cheapest option, it has the great merit of being very handy.

👉 More info: day trip to Olympia from Athens

🚘 Visiting Greece by car 🚘

If you’re planning on exploring the Peloponnese on your own, Captain Ulysses strongly recommends renting a car: it is by far the most practical way to get around the peninsula. Not to mention that car rental in Greece is on the whole very cheap!

To find THE best deal, the Captain recommends Rentalcars , which compares offers from a host of rental services.

One last piece of advice: Greece is crisscrossed with small mountainous roads, so you should definitely opt for a fuel-efficient car, even if it is a little more expensive to rent!

👉 Check out rental car deals

Opening times of the ancient site of Olympia

The archaeological site of Olympia is open:

• From 8am to 8pm from April to October
• From 8am to 3pm from November to March

The entrance ticket to Olympia is available at the price of 12 € per person (free of charge for children under 17). It includes the entrance to the site as well as access to the archaeological museum.

👍 To dodge the queues (and get audio commentary straight to your smartphone), Captain Ulysses recommends reserving your tickets ahead of time, particularly during the bustling spring and summer months: E-ticket for the archaeological site and museum, plus an audio guide.

👍 Struggling to visualize amidst the ancient ruins? To better understand what Olympia once looked like in its prime, Captain Ulysses strongly suggests taking this self-guided virtual reality tour of the site .

Where to stay in Olympia? Hotels & accommodation

If you are planning a road-trip in the Peloponnese, the Captain advises you to stop in Olympia for one night. A stone’s throw from the ancient site, the modern city offers plenty of options.

👉 You will find here a selection of the best hotels and apartments in Olympia

👉 Book your tours and activities in Greece!

Looking for tips and recommendations here are all of captain ulysses’ suggestions in greece.

🛏️ Accommodation : to book your accommodations in the Peloponnese, Captain Ulysses highly recommends Hotels.com From youth hostel to luxury boutique hotel: there’s plenty to choose from!

🎟️ Activities: monuments, guided tours, sports activities, boat tours, excursions… To book your activities in advance, the Captain recommends two trusted sites: GetYourGuide and Civitatis .

🚌 Local transportation: to get around the Peloponnese, Captain Ulysses can only recommend renting a car. He also advises you to use the Rentalcars platform, which compares offers from a host of brands, including Hertz, Avis, Europcar and trusted local agencies. If you prefer to avoid driving, the websites GetYourGuide and Civitatis offer a selection of excursions in the Peloponnese.

📍Circuits: if you prefer to entrust the organization of your trip to a travel agency, Captain Ulysses recommends you very warmly Evaneos . This French agency works in collaboration with local agencies to orchestrate customized and personalized stays.

✈️ F lights: to book your flights to Greece, Captain Ulysses warmly recommends the Skyscanner comparator. You’ll be able to compare countless offers to find the best deal. If your dates are flexible, you can also compare prices over several months to find the cheapest flights possible.

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Virtual Realty tour - Olympia Back In Time

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The virtual reality glasses were perfect. They worked well and made our visit to Olympia much more... read more

What a great way to add to the experience of visiting the Olympia grounds! The commentary via the... read more

Virtual Realty tour

Our family of 5, 2 adults and 3 children ages 9, 12 and 14 all used the VR for the first time for our Olympia tour. It was a very different experience compared to what we had done at other ancient sites and all of us were engaged and enjoyed it. It brought the area to life in a new and interesting way. I would recommend it to families

Olympia has a great history and we are glad that you choose to discover this magical place with the Virtual Reality Glasses. Now you know how it looked like before and we hope to be a family experience that you will remember forever. Thank you for your review ! ! !

I would like to thank this company for an excellent experience and request that they hurry to offer the same at all major Greek archeological sites! We later on our trip went to explore ancient messini and commented all the way around how wonderful it would be if only we could have 3d glasses there as well. It adds another level of interest- seeing the colours and heights and noise of how the Greeks would have lived then. We particularly enjoyed seeing the complete buildings in relation to one another around the site too at Olympia. We look forward to this company's expansion. 5 star.

Very nice staff. I had lost my son's shoe in front of the shop, when I noticed this in front of the entrance to the Olympic site and I was about to walk back, the staff came up with the shoe. That was really great. Thanks again. The tour with the glasses gives a very good picture of the situation at that time. It comes to life through the glasses.

Wonderful experience, a must do! The VR glasses make the visit much more interesting. What an upgrade! My congratulations to Achilles, who put a lot of effort into it, resulting in a wonderful added value.

Awesome experience. We contacted the owner via WhatsApp and he replied within a couple of minutes. We gave him a time and everything was set up. Easy going. He gave us a quick instruction on the VR glasses and we walked from there to the archeological site. It was by far the most exciting ancient experience! It gives you an awesome opportunity to have a clear idea of the way the buildings looked and changed the game on sightseeing. I hope to see this soon at other sights. Awesome place. Awesome customer experience. Thanks a lot!

This experience is super cool to be able to imagine how Olympia looked like back in the day. You reserve the glasses, pick them up in town in Achille‘s shop and then off you go to experience the site. The visuals are accompanied by an audio guide who tells more about the history of the place. Only the GPS location sometimes does not work 100% neatly - isn’t an issue at all though - great stuff keep it up!