Temple of Zeus Reconstruction Project

Built c. 330 BC over the remains of an earlier temple, the Temple of Zeus lies in the center of the Sanctuary of Zeus at Nemea.  The 9,240 square foot Temple played a significant role in the Nemea Games, one of the original Pan-Hellenic Games of Ancient Greece.  It was before  this Temple that, prior to the Nemea Games, the athletes would pay homage to the father of their gods, Zeus.  The Temple’s construction included three Greek architectural forms, the Doric, the Corinthian, and the Ionic.  32 limestone columns each standing 42 feet tall, and  composed of 13 cylindrical stones, called “drums”, each weighing approximately, 2.5 tons, surrounded the Temple of Zeus. Of those 32 original columns, only three columns remain standing today, the rest gave way to nature, specifically, earthquakes and human intervention—the latter through looting and the removal of the Temple’s material to build other monuments.

Professor Stephen Miller, former Director of the Nemea Excavations,  conceived the quest to reconstruct the Temple of Zeus as part of his ongoing efforts to preserve the Ancient Nemea site. Beginning work on the Temple’s reconstruction was aided by the previous work of Professor Frederick Cooper, Professor of Architecture, University of Minnesota, under whose leadership 1,100 stone blocks located on and around the Temple’s ground were catalogued.  It would be in part these catalogued blocks that would be used to re-erect the columns.  In 2002 with the Greek government’s permission, Professor Miller began the reconstruction of two columns on the north side, near to where  the three original columns still stand.  Just prior to his retirement in 2004, and after successfully reconstructing the two columns, Professor Miller, formally established the Temple of Zeus Reconstruction Project, with the Earthquake Engineering Research Center (EERC) and the Nemea Center providing oversight and guidance for the project.  Although the Nemea Center is primarily responsible for the conduct and work on the project, Dr. Nicos Makris, Professor, Department of Civil Engineering, University of Patras (Greece), Senior Research Engineer, University of California, Berkeley, is the on-site project director, since 2004, responsible for overseeing the day-to-day reconstruction of four additional columns

Due to issues of the reconciliation of ancient architectural “refinements” and the natural settling that has occurred over time, along with the difficult procurement of substantially sized blocks, the progress of the reconstruction has been substantially slowed, but it is anticipated that all of the four columns will be re-erected by the end of 2009.   To date, significant work has been completed on the foundations and krepidoma on the east end and in the pronaos, as well as the completion of the placement of all the drums, the reconstruction of three columns on the east side, and the final carving of their exterior surfaces.  All the columns have been re-erected by using as many of the available original stones, previously catalogued by Professor Cooper, and by the extraction of limestone from a nearby rock quarry, from which the additional blocks are made. The reconstruction project is a costly venture with each column roughly costing a quarter–million euros.  Although Professors Miller and Makris raised much of the funds, including donations from Mr. T. Papalexopoulos, the Opheltes Foundationand the Club Hotel Casino Loutraki, additional private donations are  needed to complete the reconstruction of the Temple, including funds for the positioning of the epistyles that will provide the need stability and endurance to the newly re-erected columns.

When completed, the reconstruction of the Temple of Zeus will provide the visitor with a clearer sense of the magnitude and magnificence of the original Greek temple, and most importantly the site will be preserved for generations to come.

For more detail account on the progress of the reconstruction project, please refer to the following five Progress Reports which are attached below:
2008 - Progress Report (pending)
2007 - Progress Report
2006 - Progress Report
2005 - Progress Report (unavailable at this time)
2004 - Progress Report

Attachment	Size
Temple2007report.pdf	747 KB
Temple2006report.pdf	1.02 MB
Temple2004report.pdf	2.07 MB