OLYMPIA

capital of Washington, U.S., seat of Thurston County, on Budd Inlet and Capitol Lake (at the south end of Puget Sound), at the mouth of the Deschutes River, 29 miles (47 km) southwest of Tacoma. Laid out in 1851 as Smithfield, it became the site of a U.S. customs house and was renamed for the nearby Olympic Mountains. Chosen as the territorial capital in 1853 and incorporated in 1859, Olympia developed port facilities and a lumber-based economy, augmented by oyster farming, dairying, brewing, and other industries. Its harbour serves as the base for a large merchant reserve fleet. The Old Capitol (built 1893) is used as a state office building. The new Capitol Group (completed 1935) stands on a promontory in a 35-acre (14-hectare) park. Located at the base of the Olympic Peninsula, the city is the gateway to Olympic National Park and is the headquarters for the Olympic National Forest. It is the home of Evergreen State College (1967), and nearby Laceyis the site of St. Martin's College (1895). Pop. (1992 est.) city, 35,712; Olympia MSA, 170,155. ruined ancient sanctuary, home of the ancient Olympic Games, and former site of the massive Statue of Zeus, which had been ranked as one of the Seven Wonders of the World. Olympia is located near the western coast of the Peloponnese peninsula of southern Greece, 10 miles (16 km) inland from the Ionian Sea, near a point where the Alpheus (Alfios) and Cladeus (Kladios) rivers meet. Set amid an idyllic countryside consisting of low, wooded hills alternating with farmland, the Olympia archaeological site is of outstanding cultural significance. It was designated a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1989. Additional reading J.G. Frazer, Pausanias's Description of Greece, trans. with commentary (1913), is the story of the Greek traveler Pausanias, who visited Olympia in the 2nd century AD and detailed the place in his books v and vi. Frazer's commentary is thorough and makes full use of modern knowledge of Olympia gained from the original German excavations. E. Norman Gardiner, Olympia: Its History and Remains (1925), is a good general account. Ludwig Drees, Olympia: Gtter, Knstler und Athleten (1967; Olympia: Gods, Artists and Athletes, 1968), is richly illustrated, with sections on the religious festival, the Olympic Games, and the buildings. See also Bernard Ashimole and Nicholas Yalouris, Olympia: The Sculptures of the Temple of Zeus, with photographs by Alison Frantz (1967).