Athens Panathinaiko (Panathenaic) Olympic Stadium: Ish Meets Greece

Every time the Olympics come around, a lot of people are brimming with pride and filled with hope for their chances at winning the gold medal. Olympic fever sweeps the world off our feet.

Last year, I visited China’s Water Cube and the famous Bird’s Nest Stadium, I shall write about those as well but for now, I want to share some photos that I took in Athens last month.

I was there when the flame left the city to travel to London. As part of most tourist routes in Athens, the Panathinaiko Stadium is one of the most visited spots in Athens.

It was built in 566 BC and was reconstructed in 329 BC completely in marble. It remains to be the only functional Olympic Stadium made entirely of the beautiful stone.

In ancient times, this stadium hosted the first Olympic games which were played between Ancient Greek City States in honor of the Goddess Athena.

The Olympic flag flies high in front of the stadium:

The games ended sometime in 400 AD when the Roman empire took over and were not held again until the late 19th century. Panathinaiko Stadium also hosted some of the earliest  revivals of the Olympic games in 1870 and 1875 after it was excavated and refurbished by Emperor Konstantinos Zappas.

 Statue of a discus thrower in front of the Stadium:

I have visited a good number of stadia in my life and I would have to say, the modern football facilities may be impressive, but this is where it all began. The sheer magnificence of the pure marble structure says it all. The stadium sits right in the middle of modern Athens in all its beautiful splendor. Definitely one for your bucket list. Any sports fan must make the pilgrimage.