Architecture of the Byzantine world

As is well known, the workshop in which Phidias created his famous statue of Zeus at Olympia was not destroyed - in antiquity, it was preserved and incorporated into the wider temple complex. Nevertheless, it never became a fully-fledged pagan sanctuary - perhaps this was precisely why, following the ban on the Olympic Games and the decline of local cults, it was expanded and rebuilt into a Christian basilica. I have already posted photos of it, but this year the building has undergone further restoration - the apse and colonnades have been restored and the floor cleared, allowing us at last to see the church itself, rather than just abstract ancient ruins.