Summary

Nemea is a fertile upland valley in southern Corinthia where the Sanctuary of Zeus and its panhellenic festival with athletic games was founded in the 6th century bce. After a period of disruption in the Classical period, when the games were removed and celebrated in Argos, the later 4th century bce saw a renewal of the games at the site which underwent a substantial building program with a new temple, stadium, and facilities for athletes and festival participants. A hero shrine in the form of a tumulus was constructed in the southwestern part of the sanctuary in the Iron Age and was rebuilt with a stone perimeter wall in the late 4th century. The Nemea valley was occupied and farmed from prehistory through the medieval period when the pagan sanctuary was converted for Christian worship with the construction of a basilica from the spolia of the Temple of Zeus.