The entire city of Nemea is surrounded by archaeological sites, some of them exploited, some others untapped. Ancient Nemea is an important archaeological site, where the famous races of antiquity ‘Nemea’ were held every two years. "Nemea" was introduced in 573 BC and along with the Olympia, Isthmia and Pythia, was among the greatest athletic competitions in ancient Greece. During its conduction a sacred truce stopped all the hostilities among Greek cities. The awarded prize was a wreath of wild celery. The Nemean Games were burial games in honor of the “Seven at Thebes”, and Opheltes. For this reason, the judges wore black robes, interpreted as a sign of mourning. Although the archaeological site of Ancient Nemea is currently the most important of the region, it should be noted that there never was a city. It only included sports facilities, the temple and all the necessary buildings and infrastructure to organize the games, but it never had permanent residents, except for a few priests. During the Nemean games of course, a crowd of athletes and people all over Greece gathered in the area. Unlike Ancient Nemea, Ancient Fliounta (Flius) was a great ancient city, as it had about 15,000 inhabitants at its peak. Indeed, Fliounta was built 3 km away from the present city of Nemea, in the center of the vineyards of the region, almost opposite to the winery of Zacharias Vineyards. In antiquity, city’s residents, just like today’s residents, served with great success the wine-making process, and this is the reason why their wine (named “fliassios”) was famous all over Greece. Despite the allure in ancient times, little present findings reveal the glory of its past. Recently, there have been some efforts, so that the ancient acropolis of Flius to be revealed.
What to Visit
Temple of Zeus of Nemea