| Context: | Olympia |
| Type: | Prytaneion |
| Summary: | Almost square building; in the northwest corner of the Sanctuary of Zeus (Altis), at the northwest corner of the Temple of Hera. |
| Date: | ca. 475 BC |
| Dimensions: | 32.65 m x 27.25 m (front). |
| Region: | Elis |
| Period: | Early Classical |
Plan:
Square building with entrance on the south through a Doric tetrastyle prostyle porch and vestibule. Behind the vestibule, a central chamber, which probably contained an Altar of Hestia. Open courts and rooms on the western and eastern sides. North of the central chamber, a large rectangular area with an inner colonnade and rooms off the western end.
History:
The Eleans, officials of the games, probably resided here and the building was also used for celebrations of Olympic victories. There was a series of earlier buildings, probably of similar purposes, at this location. The foundations included a rhomboid altar foundation of unworked sandstone in the area of the later Altar of Hestia. A later pre-500 B.C. building had numerous rooms and a rectangular foundation. Following the Archaic building was the building described above in the Plan description. Further changes to this building included a kitchen addition on the north. Later Roman additions included a front colonnade not shown here.
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