Palaestra

The Palaestra at Olympia is located close to the river Kladeos. These are the first buildings you see when entering Olympia. The primary feature of Palaestra was to serve as a training area for combat sports. Today one can wander in and out of the ruins of those buildings.

The Palaestra was always combined with a Roman Bath or Hammam during the reign of the Romans. However, the Arabs and Turks did not continue with the concept of Palaestrae. The German School recently excavated and researched the Palaestra. Only the lower, stone-built sections remain, and 32 of the internal peristyle's 72 columns have been restored. This ancient Greek athletic establishment derived its name from the combat sport 'pale' – Greek wrestling. In addition to the amenities for combat sports, Palaestra also had rooms for ball sports, changing rooms, storage, lecture halls, and cold and hot water baths.