All language subtitles for Bettany.Hughes.Treasures.of.the.World.S01E01.Greece.720p.HDTV.x264-DARKFLiX_Subtitles01.ENG

I'm travelling the world,

exploring secrets and wonders.

This is really tight.

An adventure by land and sea to the
most fascinating places...

This is absolutely incredible.

...where I've been given special
access to significant

and surprising treasures...

It's so tiny and absolutely unique.

...buried in ancient sites,

extraordinary buildings

and glorious works of art

that help to explain the story of
us.

Come with me to see how the
past shapes our lives.

This time, Greece, birthplace

of an astonishing culture that gave
us

fantastic art, pioneering medicine

and bold ideas.

Greece is often hailed as a bedrock
of civilisation.

It is that and so much more.

I want to take you to the
heart of this extraordinary place.

I'm visiting unparalleled sites
across this remarkable country...

Oh, my gosh.

...revealing fabulous stories...

My goodness, if these walls could
talk.

...that capture the exceptional,
enduring spirit...

That is brilliant.
That is brilliant.

...of this ancient land.

What genius, this is genius.

So this was 2,500 years ago.

From trailblazing women

to one of Britain's most famous
romantic poets,

this country has inspired innovation
and passion.

Every treasure I want to show you
reveals

something vital about us and the
world.

I'm taking you to my hand-picked
wonders.

Athens, a jewel in the crown of
ancient Greek civilisation.

Wherever you are in Athens, it's
pretty much

impossible to miss this -
the Acropolis.

For over 3,500 years

it's borne witness to the incredible
Greek civilisation -

a civilisation that still impacts
our lives today.

On the Acropolis rock alone there
was a theatre,

a concert hall and, of course,

the great Temple of the goddess
Athena, the Parthenon.

The Parthenon's come to embody what
some describe as

the Golden age of Athens in the
fifth century BCE.

But actually, that Greek spirit of
innovation

and ambition and the sheer
creativity and energy

and audacity that built
the treasures on the Acropolis

was actually at play in different
times and different places

right across Greece.

To get to the heart of this
game changing story,

I'm exploring intriguing, inspiring
wonders of Greece

which reveal our deep debt to the
past.

From Athens, I'm travelling west to
the port city of Nafplion.

It's witnessed the grand sweep
of Greece's history from ancient

to modern and was the first
capital of the modern Greek

state in the 19th century.

It's a treasure where geography
makes history.

This is a naturally protected
harbour

and it sits right on the crossroads
of Asia and Europe.

So it means that this place is
always been

a really important trading centre,

dating back probably 4,000
years or so.

But the issue with jewels
is that they attract thieves.

And throughout its history, there've
been hostile takeover bids

from Byzantines and Franks
and Venetians

and Ottomans who all left their mark
on this town

because they wanted control of the
sea.

But Nafplion's own maritime story
starts

long before foreign armies came.

According to legend, the town was
founded by Nauplius,

the son of the sea god Poseidon.

Nauplius's own son Palamedes

was a real player in Greek
mythology.

He's said to have invented dice,
lighthouses

and even several letters of the
Greek alphabet.

And he played a key part in the
story of the Trojan War.

We're told that Palamedes was sent
out across these waters to

try to persuade the hero
Odysseus to join the fight.

Now, Odysseus had no intention
whatsoever of being conscripted

so he pretended he was mad.

He yoked up two oxen to a plough

and went out into the fields,
singing wildly.

Palamedes just knew he was faking
it.

And actually, very cleverly,
he grabbed the Odysseus's young

baby boy Telemachus and laid him
down in front of the oxen's

hooves, knowing he would stop.

Odysseus did, proving he was sane.

And he never forgave Palamedes for
this.

So during the Trojan War he
actually had him framed

for theft and treachery and then
stoned him to death.

It's a really gruesome tale and
that, obviously, is just a legend.

But there's an incredible discovery
just a few miles from here that

links those stories of the
Trojan War

to real historical heroic warriors.

This find is now housed in the

Archaeological Museum in Nafplion.

I first came here years ago when I
was researching a book on

Helen of Troy and I remember being
very excited then,

so it is fantastic to be back.

The treasurer I've come to see is a
unique

survival from the Bronze Age,

3,500 years ago,

the time when the story of the
Trojan War is set.

Oh, my goodness, this never
disappoints.

Because what you've got to remember
that you're looking at here

is armour that is close on
3,500 years old.

This would have belonged to a
warrior

and it's made of bronze but really,
really fine bronze,

so those sheets are only about a
millimetre thick,

which means that it provided
protection

but would have been very
light to wear.

And then the top, you've got this

fabulous helmet decorated with
boars' tusks.

Now, wild boar were and still are
really ferocious.

So this whole thing is designed to
impress, to intimidate.

This is physically the stuff that
legends are made of.

And what's significant is that in
the most famous

account of the Trojan War
we hear descriptions of tunics

and gleaming helmets exactly like
this.

So I think it proves that all these
fabulous

stories about fantastic warrior
heroes

like Palamedes have their roots

in hard historical facts.

So powerful was Palamedes' presence
in Nafplion

he gave his name to the hill that
towers over the city

and the formidable fortress
constructed on it.

The Palamidi was built when the
whole of the Peloponnese was

under the control of Venice, with
Nafplion its capital.

Work started on the fortress
in 1711.

Constructing this fortress was the

most incredible feat of engineering,

because you can see how
difficult the terrain is.

And then the Venetians made it even
more complex for themselves

because they built eight
separate bastions.

And the idea was it provided
strength in depth.

So if one bastion fell then
the soldiers could move up

and occupy the one above.

It was completed just in time,

because in 1715 the Ottomans
from Turkey attacked.

There were only 2,000 Venetian
soldiers up here

and the reports were that when they
looked out,

there were between 70 and 100,000
Ottoman troops

all massed in boats in the harbour,
were actually

attacking this fortress itself.

Venetians didn't even bother to

test their ingenious bastion system.

They abandoned the fortress, fled to
the lower town

and now the Ottomans were in charge.

Ottoman rule continued for a little
over

100 years, until in 1821

the Greeks launched a revolt in a
bid for independence.

A year later, in 1822, on the
night of November the 29th,

under the cover of darkness, a band
of Greek freedom fighters

broke in here and successfully
managed

to take the garrison from the Turks.

So this became one of the first
places in Greece

to regain its independence.

As the war continued, Greek fighters
were joined

by a small army of foreigners.

These volunteers were inspired by
the belief

that Western civilisation owed a
profound debt

to the ancient - and therefore to
the modern - Greece.

The most famous foreigner to join
the cause

was the British poet and adventurer
Lord Byron.

His memory is still very much
alive in Nafplion today.

Oh, hi. So we're doing something
about the history of Greece

and obviously we're talking about
Byron.

So, I stayed here ten years ago. Oh.

Yeah. Yes, I know.

It's... Yeah.

With my family. I remember you, I
remember.

D0 you? I remember you. Do you?
I had two little...

I had a blonde girl and a little
girl with red hair. Yes.

So tell me one thing, we're talking
about Byron

and the freedom fighters of Greece.

So you called your hotel
Byron Hotel.

This Romantic, yes, with Byron.

Well, Byron... Byron is... He was
like a hero for us in Greece.

He wrote a lot of poetry too,
he helped the Greek revolution.

Yes, he was very important, so we
said we will have this name.

Because Byron is like a hero. OK.

OK, yassas. OK, bye.

Overall, nearly 300 foreigners died
in the War of Independence.

There is something very moving about
people willing

to give up their lives and die for

somebody else's liberty.

And that is what was happening here,
they were dying for liberty

and they were dying for the idea
that is Greece.

They were heroes who believed
in something bigger than themselves.

Finally, after seven years of
conflict, the war was won.

Greece was free and Nafplion was
made

the first official capital city.

In 1833, the new king of Greece -

in fact, a young Bavarian prince
called Otto,

chosen by committee in London -
landed here.

And for the first time in its
history,

Greece was a nation state

with its own name.

Greece is a tapestry,

a place rich from its encounters
with many parts of the world

and Nafplion bears witness to
that.

This is a city that embodies the
compelling,

complicated history of Greece.

A story that spans East and West,

ancient and modern, and that's
inspired

heroes, whether they are legendary
or real, across thousands of years.

And that is why Nafplion is a
wonder.

My next treasure is in an experiment
in utopia,

a city state where women and men
gave everything

for the common good.

Sparta, in the south east
Peloponnese.

When you come to visit Sparta,

it can be hard to imagine that this

was once one of the most
influential, game-changing

civilisations in the story
of the world -

but there is good reason for that.

The Spartans didn't really believe
in material

wealth or monumental buildings.

What they were all about was
the human experience

and military muscle.

Life for Sparta's male citizens was
dedicated

to being a full-time soldier.

The men lived communally and were
selected

for the military elite at birth.

When babies were born,
they were bathed in wine

by the elders of the city to toughen
them up.

And if they were still considered
weak or disabled

in any way, then they were thrown

off the ridge of that mountain.

For those deemed fit, super strict
training lay ahead.

From the age of seven,
all boys were taken

out of the city and put into the
Agoge,

which was basically a kind of
extreme boot camp.

They were taught music and dancing,

but, most important importantly,

survival and military skills

because the idea was to turn these
young men

into the ultimate fighting machines.

Sparta's values were physically
beaten into these young boys -

their education was brutal and
bloody.

When they became teenagers,
things got really hard-core.

The most promising trainees were
selected to become

part of the Krypteia,
a secret society,

and these boys were set the ultimate
test.

They had to sneak back into the city
of Sparta

by night and murder a slave in cold
blood in his or her bed.

Spartan men were not to be messed
with.

From the age of 20, these men were
only allowed

to be full-time soldiers.

Someone had to do everything else to
run Spartan society.

All non-military work in Sparta was
carried out

by a slave population, the Helots.

Now, of course, it's an
uncomfortable truth about Greek

society that this was
a slave economy.

But it was a bit different in
Sparta.

The Helots weren't outsiders,
they were

local Greeks who'd been conquered
and subordinated

by the Spartans.

And it was these Helots that made

the Spartan war machine possible.

Many had their liberty denied,

but women enjoyed more freedom here

than in most other Greek city
states.

Spartan women pretty much had
the run of the city.

They were taught to speak in
public,

they were allowed the same rations
of men,

which was really unusual in the
ancient world.

They could drink wine,
they could race in chariots.

And the women used to get together

to commemorate Helen of Troy.

The powerful queen who was
originally Helen of Sparta.

They would oil one another with
olive oil

and speak of ambrosial nights

and limb-loosening desire.

Frankly, it all sounds pretty
wonderful and pretty erotic.

Many of these liberties were there
to ensure Sparta women were

strong enough to birth robust baby
boys -

spear fodder for the model army -

but they were freedoms nonetheless.

Of course, there was a very dark
side to the Spartan system.

But what caught the imagination
of contemporaries and many

future generations was their
absolute commitment

to excellence and to courage.

Those qualities lay at the heart of
the last stand

of the Spartans at the battle
of Thermopylae,

when 300 Spartan soldiers, hugely
outnumbered by a Persian army

refused to retreat, knowing that by
standing their ground

they faced certain death.

Sparta is one of my treasures,

not because it was the ultimate
military machine

but because it was a society
based on an idea -

an idea that, if we come together,
anything is possible

and that we should put our lives to
the service

of a cause greater than ourselves.

And love it or loathe it,

it's a role model that continues to
inspire after 2,500 years.

My next treasure, in the heart of
northern Greece,

opens a page in the playbook of
ambition.

Aigai, a capital of the ancient
kingdom of Macedon,

boasts the biggest palace of all
classical antiquity

and one of the most spectacular
archaeological

treasure troves ever discovered.

I've come here in search of gold

and the true story of two
of the most iconic

and dynamic kings from the ancient
world.

Philip ll of Macedon

and his son - Alexander the Great.

These men were determined to take
over

the whole of Greece and beyond.

Philip's political and military
ambition

was matched by his cultural
and philosophical vision.

And, as he was conquering Greece,

he was also building a massive new

headquarters for himself right
here.

The centrepiece was this palace.

Two storeys high, spanning
12,500 square metres,

with ceremonial rooms, enclosing a
splendid courtyard

that could host 3,000 people.

The first of its kind,
this cutting edge design

was a model for the future.

Lead archaeologist Dr Angeliki
Kottaridi

has given me exclusive access to the
excavations.

So how long have you been doing
these excavations here?

We started 2007 with the works.

That was a huge excavation and is
still running, as you see. Yes.

We have even today found. Today?

Unbelievable, yes, that part here,
this Ionic capital here.

How lucky am I to get to see this?

Yes, you brought us luck.

So it's a capital, so this is for
the top of a column.

Yes, this is off the top of the
column.

It's a special capital,
a very important one.

Look at the decoration on it,
that's beautiful.

See, isn't it brilliant?

Because can we imagine Philip being
shown the plans for this

and saying, "What do you think of
our design?"

I'm sure, I'm sure he would've had
an opinion on these details.

Of course, they had discuss
everything.

He was a genius.

This is an amazing building because

it has no predecessors. No.

For the first time, the ancient
Greeks have seen something

so big you can put three
Parthenon here, actually.

It was the biggest building of
classical Greece

and it dominates all the area

of central Macedonia here. Yes.

And you really get that sense up
here that you're not just

king of the world, you are top
of the world here.

The palace was designed to impress
allcomers

as a potent centre of power.

Philip hosted hundreds at a time
right here,

in lavish drinking parties,

where ideas and plans were shared,

a kind of cross between the
Camp David in the USA

or state banquets in Buckingham
Palace in the UK.

This is incredible space.
Quite high.

So this is the real entrance here?
Yes? Yeah.

The door. Fantastic.

Big one, six-metre high. Wow!

Wow! So that would be quite
a spectacular entrance.

And what a beautiful mosaic,
look at that.

A carpet for eternity...

...made by stone.
A carpet for eternity -

what a lovely idea.

So what would this room have
been used for?

Banqueting room. OK.

You have the couches around. Yes.

Ivory couches. Beautiful.

Imagine, here we have Philip,

Aristotelis, Alexander,

Athenians, people from other Greek
cities as well.

All the guys which we know from
history sitting around,

drinking wine with water
and discussing

philosophy, politics, the new
world,

which they want to create.

I mean, that is just mind-blowingly
brilliant.

And I can imagine thinking of those
conversations that have happened,

as you said, with the wine
and the kind of candlelight,

it would give you the ambition to
think,

"l'm going to go and change the
world."

And in Alexander's case, "l'm going
to go and conquer the world."

The history is so thick for 20
years, almost.

Now, everything happens here.
Amazing.

This is the absolute heart,

not just of Macedonia, of Greece

and of the world, actually. Yeah.

All the developments happens here.

Yeah. Here, yes.

It is the womb... Yes.

...who give birth to everything.

Incredible.

I'm at the site of Aigai in northern
Greece,

a seat of power for Alexander The
Great's

father, Philip the ll.

In October, 336 BCE, Philip
invited the leading VIPs

of the day here, to Aigai,
to celebrate the lavish

wedding of his daughter, Alexander's
sister, Cleopatra of Macedon.

As part of the show of festivities,

the king hosted games in the
theatre.

The spectators crowded in.

It all began with a procession of
glory here at dawn.

Statues of the 12 Olympian gods were
processed in,

followed by a statue of the king
himself,

making a point that he too had
divine power.

Philip had actually dismissed his
personal bodyguard to

prove that he was protected
by the goodwill of the Greeks.

Philip walked in alone, dressed in a
beautiful white cloak.

But suddenly, an assassin sprang
forward, somebody who'd been

loyal to him before, and stabbed him
under the ribs.

In front of the horrified crowd,
the king fell dead to the ground.

And now there was a new
king in charge -

Alexander the Great.

Alexander buried his father right
here, at Aigai,

in a vast burial mound,

in a ceremony of unparalleled glory.

17 months later, he set off at the

head of his army on a relentless

11-year campaign,
conquering territories from Egypt

to modern-day Afghanistan and India,

exporting Greek culture to Asia,
the Middle East and North Africa.

Across the centuries, 90% of the

royal tombs Aigai were looted,

but then a miraculous discovery.

Deep in this mound, undisturbed
burials,

including that of the great king -

Philip the ll.

Hailed as the find of the century,

the treasures in the tombs are
breathtaking.

Philip the ll's shield of ivory
and gold...

...his gilded armour...

...his gold oak crown,

the heaviest and most impressive
from Greek antiquity.

Nearby, an exquisite ivory of
Dionysus dancing.

And perhaps most spine-tingling of
all,

a pure gold chest containing
the bones of the king.

The miraculous discovery of the
tombs

and their treasures give us a unique

window into the lives of two of the
world's

most powerful and influential men.

This is just the most remarkable
place

because history is being physically
brought back to life.

And Aigai is one of my wonders,
not just because it tells us

about the power and ambition of
Macedonian kings,

but because it reveals a very human
story,

from Philip the ll's grand designs
here,

to his brutal death, to Alexander's
filial piety,

reflected in all that beautiful
gold.

This is somewhere where you can
really feel

the emotional currents of the past

and where you get to meet
personalities

who went on to shape the story of
the world.

For my next treasure, I'm following
the footsteps

of travellers from across the
ancient world

who made this journey as if their
lives depended on it.

My destination - Epidaurus...

...somewhere that nourished body and
souL

And the story starts in one of the
most

spectacular buildings in the ancient
world.

This vast auditorium

is an architectural masterpiece.

55 tiers of marble benches

can seat up to 15,000 people.

Ancient superstars from the
playwright Sophocles

to the Emperor Hadrian journeyed
here

to enjoy drama as a shared
experience.

So what everybody does when
they come here, and I have to say,

I am no exception, is they stand in
the centre

because the acoustics of this
place are totally amazing.

And this is how it was designed,

and you can hear from right at the
top.

But I need somebody to listen to me,
so I have roped in, kindly, Angelos.

Angelos. Hey.

Is it OK if I stand there,

do you mind running up to the top?
Sure. Why not?

And just... But tell me, honestly,
if you can hear me

because I'm not going to shout or
anything.

OK, then. ls that all right? Yeah.

I'll start going, yes? Bye.
Thank you.

So I'm standing down here and I've
just

sent Angelos right up to the top

to see if he can hear me.

I promise, I mean, you can hear me,
I'm not raising my voice at all.

He's up at the top now.

Hey, Angelos.

Angelos, can you hear me?

I can hear you.

OK, I'm going to give you
a bit of a Greek tragedy.

So, the wounds somebody of
who loves you

and the wounds of somebody who hates
you are just the same.

Because a lover's love is incurable,
whether it's good or bad.

Whoa, that was great.

What was l...? I'm testing you,
what was I talking about?

About the wounds of love.

I was. That is brilliant.

That is brilliant.

They are... I mean, what genius,
this is genius.

So this was 2,500 years ago.

And, of course, the ancient Greeks,

they were sharing these brilliant,

beautiful, bold words, these kind of

big ideas about what it is to be
human,

so what was said here really
mattered.

But the theatre wasn't actually
the reason

that the ancients came here from far
and wide.

They came because this earthly
paradise

was sacred to Asclepius,
god of medicine,

protector of human health and
happiness,

believed to have been born
right here.

This was one of the first
ever health centres,

famed across the Greek and Roman
world.

People came here as pilgrims
and as patients.

Obviously, they honoured the gods
and right at the heart

of the sanctuary there was a massive
temple to Asclepius

housing a giant statue of him
made out of gold and ivory.

But they also came

desperate to be cured.

This is where the gods' healing was
actually thought to take place.

It's called the Abaton, which means
a sacred enclosure,

and during the day the sick
and the wounded

would lie out here and then at night

they'd enter a dark chamber to
undergo

the sacred right of incubation.

So, the patients fell asleep,

waiting for Asclepius to come
to them in their dreams,

believing he'd magically cured them

or reveal what treatment they
needed.

There's a brilliant bit of
evidence from here that tells

a story of a blind man who came
and was cured,

but then he didn't cough up enough
of an offering to the sanctuary,

so he immediately lost his sight
again.

And he came back and he was healed
for the second time

and the priests here loved this fact
and then made much of it

and publicised it because,
basically,

it was very convenient for them to
say,

"Listen, miracles do happen here,
but only at the right price."

There were, however, some treatments
that were free of charge.

This is just too perfect that there
are dogs here in the sanctuary

because we know there were loads of
dogs in ancient times

because dogs were actually
sacred to Asclepius.

And I know that is a bit
counterintuitive,

you might kind of wonder
why that is.

But recent research shows that there

is definitely antibacterial
properties in dog's saliva,

so they can heal with their lick.

So they were kind of like the
servants

of healing in the ancient world.

And they're still here today,
although...

...l'm not sure I'd let these ones
lick my wounds.

But treatment here went beyond dogs
and miracles.

Archaeology has revealed why this
place was a cradle of medicine.

There is something here
I absolutely have got to show you.

So, in this lovely little cabinet,

there are all these medical
instruments

that were found on the site,

which are basically just the kind
of precursor

of our surgical instruments today.

So there are tweezers and spatulas

and knives, obviously,

and then little hooks to deal with
veins.

And it's really interesting, this,

because increasingly we find,
as well as the priests,

you're getting people that we really
think of as doctors operating here.

The ancient Greeks were massive
pioneers in medicine

and, actually, our word pharmacy is
basically an ancient Greek word,

it comes from "pharmakeia", which
means useful little things,

sometimes drugs.

I'm thinking of the operations
that would be done here

with instruments like this.

You might be relieved to hear

that they did use pain relief in the
form of opiates.

Healing treatments pioneered here
spread to over 200

Asclepius sanctuaries across Asia
and Europe.

This sanatorium employed all
kinds of practices,

physical and psychological,
as brand-new archaeology suggests.

OK. So I know this might look
a bit like a building site,

but, actually, this is an incredibly
exciting and important discovery.

So it's an excavation that's
obviously still going on

and what has been found down there

is in underground chamber.

Now, we don't know yet exactly what
it would've been used for.

It might have been a music ritual or
even a snake pit,

or some kind of dungeon where people
imagined

that they were dead so that they
could be healed and reborn again.

But, whatever it is, it's a vital,

new piece in the jigsaw puzzle
story of this place.

And this is a story that really
matters,

that has a lot to teach us,

because, 2,000 years ago, the women

and men here had a holistic approach

to life and health and happiness

we're only re-embracing now.

So, remember this beautiful
theatre?

Well, by the fourth century BCE,
there wasn't just a theatre here,

there was a stadium, a running
track, a gymnasium

and an odeon, which is the ancient
Greek word for a music hall.

And, at first, you might think
all of this was just

provided as entertainment for all
those visitors

and pilgrims, but, actually,

the truth runs far, far deeper.

This was here as therapy

because the ancient Greeks believed
that you could not have

a healthy body unless you had a
healthy mind.

And the philosopher Aristotle said
that when people came

together in a theatre like this
to listen to drama,

it was catharsis -

it was a purge and a balm for
societies soul.

That idea of treating the person
as a whole,

rather than just focusing on an
isolated problem,

of using art to heal,
might seem super modern,

but the Greeks got there 2,500 years
ago.

Epidaurus is a wonder for all
kinds of reasons,

but I really love it because it
reminds us to respect history

and that we shouldn't just learn

about the people of the past -

we should learn from them.

For my final treasure,

I'm heading to one of the most
iconic ancient sites on the planet,

home to a driving competitive
spirit that made the Greeks special

and that shaped our world...

...Olympia,

birthplace of the original Olympic
Games.

I just love coming to Olympia
because, obviously,

it's thrilling to be somewhere
that's famous as the birthplace

of the Olympic Games,

but this site has so much more to
reveal.

For over 3,000 years,

Olympia has been a sacred place -

the chief sanctuary of Zeus,

the most powerful of all the Greek
gods,

ruler of Mount Olympus,

god of success,

god of the sky.

In ancient times,

visitors would've entered this
sacred space

with a real sense of awe and wonder.

Knowing that, with every step,

they were drawing closer to the
home of the almighty god.

I have to be honest, coming here, it
does still feel very spiritual.

Recent digs are revealing how every
detail was chosen

to enhance the sublime experience.

Because this has all only just been
excavated,

you can still see fantastic details
on the stone,

like the fact that it's made of a
composite stone

that's absolutely thick with
millions-of-year-old seashells.

We know that this stone was chosen

because it celebrated the raw power
of the Earth.

Isn't that beautiful?

So, this is the Altis,

the sanctuary of the gods,

the pulsing centre of divine power
here

and a celebration of the power of
the creations of humanity.

And at its heart was the magnificent
Temple of Zeus.

And within the temple,

a huge statue of the god himself,

decorated in gold and ivory,

over 12 metres tall

and so spectacular,

it was considered one of the Seven
Wonders of the World.

Originally a statement of pure
power,

only ghostly remains have been left.

The temple was destroyed by an
earthquake,

the statue by fire.

But now, painstaking research and
modern technology

is raising the Olympian Zeus from
the ashes.

Oh, this is fantastic.

Oh, it's amazing!

It had very famous decorations above
the entrance on the pediment.

World-class, and they were painted
these bright colours.

And then... There it is.

That's the world-famous statue of
Zeus.

Look at him!

So, covered in gold and ivory.

This is brilliant!

And people who came here from the
ancient world said

it was so beautifully done, it was
so inspiring,

they felt as though they were in
the presence of Zeus himself.

Wow, what a moment to be standing in
the temple and looking at him.

Every four years,

for over 1,000 years,

a pretty intense festival that
glorified achievement

was held here in honour of Zeus,

including a gory climax -

the ritual sacrifice of 100 bulls.

Their throats were cut,

and then they were burnt as an
offering to the gods,

and the remains of that offering

and the remains of the ash of the
sacred flame,

the Olympic flame which always
burnt here,

would be piled up in this kind of
weird, greasy,

ashy, bone monument altar to death
and sacrifice, just there.

And so, when people came here, that
was one of the sites.

So visceral as an experience, coming
here.

Really, you know, this was a place
and an experience

that really, really mattered,

and if you'd come, you would
never have forgotten your visit.

This extraordinary place was also
the backdrop

to the ancient world's greatest
sporting contest,

the Olympic Games.

Over 50,000 spectators flocked to
Olympia.

This wasn't just about sport.

The competition itself was a
religious experience,

attracting Greek citizens and
travellers from Sicily to Georgia.

The atmosphere must have been
electric.

So, this is the stadium where the
races were held,

and the competitors would all have
lined up here

on the starting line, stark naked,

to prove to Zeus how hard they
trained for his festival.

And, actually, the Ancient Greek
word for naked is "gymnos",

which gives us our word
"gymnastics".

And the stadium takes its name from
the stadion, or stage,

which was the measure of distance
from one end to the other.

For the ancients,

these sporting heroes were touched
by the divine.

To understand more,

I'm meeting archaeologist
Konstantinos Antonopoulos.

So, was this really a religious
experience when people came here?

For sure.

The Olympic Games was not just an
athletic event.

The Olympic victor was a hero among
humans

and, many times, he would be
worshipped

as a semi-god or as a god after he
died.

So, I mean, it really mattered that
you won when you came here.

Exactly.

Zeus was the prominent beloved god
of the Greeks,

and he had this festival here.

They thought that the Olympic victor
would be accepted in Zeus's palace

and he would live among the gods,

and that would be the ticket to
immortality.

Of course, competing to be godlike
encouraged fierce competition.

For the Greeks, winning was
everything.

There was no such thing as an
honourable loser,

and competition was stitched
through all aspects of Greek life.

So, politicians competed,

but poets, playwrights and even
potters competed, too.

The Olympic Games provided the
opportunity

for clays on end

of sublime, ferocious contest.

Contest, struggle, was there to
honour the best

and to make people aspire to be
better.

Success was a goal enshrined in
Greek culture via the Games

for over 1,000 years...

...a legacy and, some would argue, an
ethos we've inherited.

The modern Games were revived in
Greece in 1896

after being closed down by Christian
emperors 1,600 years before.

The Olympic torch is now ritually
lit here at Olympia...

...and is transported around the
world.

Olympia is one of our wonders
because,

from the stupendous statue of Zeus

to the raw rivalry of the Games,

it encapsulates a Greek spirit of
competition.

That constant restless struggle to
innovate and create and be the best

led the Greeks to make astonishing
advances in the human story.

My treasures of Greece

have taken me across this glorious
land.

I've felt the passion of the ancient
Olympics,

been dazzled by the gold of Macedon

and visited the first health spa in
western civilisation.

This journey to explore the wonders
and treasures of Greece

has been epic and a joy.

It's shown me that ambition and
determination

and inspiration and sheer curiosity

is what builds a civilisation

and it's reminded me that the gifts
of the Greeks

are still enjoyed across the world
today.

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