The "Olympic Botanical Garden" will be planted in a 25 acre expanse between the northern and northwestern slopes of Cronus Hill (Kronion), between the ancient site's Archaeological
Museum and the Hill just above the site.
The Botanical Garden will contain plants native to the area, including wild olive trees, almond trees, pomegranate trees, pines, arbutus, plane trees, cypress trees and walnut trees, as well as 6,000 bushes of aromatic and medicinal herbs and shrubs such as rosemary, lavender, myrtle, mint and rosemary. Only plants with horizontal or compact root systems that require a planting depth of not more than 80cm will be planted so as not to damage sub-ground antiquities.
The estimated cost is 150,000 euros, and help in the project has been pledged by the Municipality of Munich in Germany. Munich is the home of the largest Greek community in Europe, outside Greece, while the city has historical ties with ancient and modern Greece.
The Garden will be used mainly for educational purposes, where visitors may learn about the plants that grow naturally on Cronus Hill and the surrounding region, but also their history.
Every plant will have a sign containing its scientific and everyday name in Greek, Latin and English, and historical information on the plant, as well as its mythological connotations.
Ancient Olympia is the birthplace of the Olympic Games in antiquity, and the torch relays for modern-day Olympic Games, both winter and summer, begin at the ancient site with a re-enactment of the ancient Games' ritual in which a High Priestess, represented by an actress, lights the Olympic Flame from the sun's rays, using a concave mirror to focus the rays during a ceremony in front of the ruins of the 2,600 year old Temple of Hera.
source: ANA-MPA
