ANCIENT ELIS (Code: )

Built on a privileged site, on the left bank of Peneios river, ancient Elis was the capital of Eleans’ state and the organizing city of the Olympic Games in antiquity. Archeological investigation indicates human presence as early as the Prehistoric period ( from ca. 120000 BC onwards), and a  considerable growth during the Bronze Age (2800-1100 BC). According to a tradition mentioned by Pausanias, Oxylos from Aetolia became the founder, first king and colonizer of Elis, and also the establisher of the Olympic Games.