The south hall was both the southern limit of the sanctuary of Olympia and its main entrance from the south. Situated outside the Altis enclosure, south of the bouleuterion, it was built at the same time as the Echo hall c. 360-350 BC, and remained in use for many centuries.

The hall, eighty metres long and thirteen and a half metres wide, was built of shell-limestone and raised on a marble platform. Facing south towards the Alpheios river, it had thirty-four Doric columns along the front and six at each side. In the middle of the fa?ade was a protruding portico, seven metres wide, with six Doric columns at the front and three at each side. The interior of the hall was divided longitudinally by a row of seventeen Corinthian columns.

The hall was only partially investigated and its west side remains unexcavated. Recent cleaning, however, has revealed the hall's ground plan in its entirety.