The site of the ancient sanctuary of Olympia, long forgotten under landslips and flood siltation, was identified in 1766 by the English antiquarian Richard Chandler. In May 1829, the French team of archaeologists of the "Scientific Expedition of Morea" (under the direction of Léon-Jean-Joseph Dubois and Abel Blouet) identified with certainty and partially excavated the Temple of Zeus for the first time, taking several fragments of the metopes to the Musée du Louvre (with the authorization of the Governor of Greece, Ioannis Kapodistrias). Systematic excavation began in 1875, under the direction of the German Archaeological Institute, and has continued, with some interruptions, to the present time.