Next to the entrance to the archaeological site is a large spring, around which the sacred grove of the Muses was probably located. According to ancient tradition, the Muses, fruit of the union of Zeus and Mnemosyne, were born in Pieria. At the foot of Mount Olympus the common cult of the Muses and Zeus Olympios developped, which later became the religious nucleus of the organisation of the Olympia in Dion. It is known from the ancient testimonies that the official festival at Dion lasted nine days and that each day had the name of one Muse. In Hellenistic times the devotees of the Muses at Dion constituted an organized essembly, the «koinon of Musaists», as attested by an inscription from the reign of King Perseus (170-168 BC).

The abondance water sources that to this day inundate the area of Dion were decisive factors for the founding and spatial arrangement of the ancient sanctuaries. Water was a basic element in the cults of Zeus, which were associated mainly with weather phenemena, nature, fertility and healing. The well-watered place, with copious springs, was considered suitable for establishing the cult of Olympian Zeus, who was worshipped initially as a god of rain and weather. Spring waters also played a role in the acts of worship and healing performed in the sanctuaries of Zeus Hypsistos, Isis and Asklepios.