Hippodrome of Olympia Hippodrome of Olympia The Hippodrome of Olympia housed the equestrian contests (horse racing and chariot racing) of the Ancient Olympic Games. According to Pausanias, it was situated to the south of the Stadium and covered a large area about 600 meters long and 200 meters wide. The hippodrome was a wide, flat, open space where the starting point and the finish line were designated with a pole and a second smaller pole called nyssa designated the turning point. Horse and chariot races were one of the most popular and spectacular sports of the Olympic Games in ancient Greece. The equestrian
Hippodrome of Berytus at Berytus fell into disuse and disrepair. Later -under Arab rule- its stones were reused for the construction of other buildings while it was subsequently mined, according to archeologist Lee Levine, but its outline remained sufficiently clear in the 20th century for identification as a hippodrome by the archaeologist Robert du Mesnil du Buisson. Its groundworks were partially excavated in 1988. An approximately 90-meter section of wall has been uncovered, alongside the straight, and foundations of seating tiers at the semi-circular end. The hippodrome site is near the Maghen Abraham Synagogue in Wadi Abu Jamil, the historic, Jewish quarter of