The temple to Hera at Olympia,  also referred to as the Heraion, is the earliest monumental temple in Greece and ranks as the best specimens of archaic Doric temple architecture. The original columns were wood which gradually rotted over time and then replaced with stone. The profiles of the Doric column capitals varied according to the date of replacement. As late as the 2nd century AD, the traveler Pausanias saw one wooden column in the opisthodomos. In the cella there is a pedestal where the cult statue of Hera once stood. She was seated on her throne with Zeus standing along side her. Unfortunately, only the head of Hera has survived.

The lower part of the temple is made from local shell-limestone, while the walls were made of unbaked bricks. The temple was destroyed by an earthquake in the early 4th century AD and never rebuilt.