The Panathenaic Stadium "Kallimarmaro"

Ancient Greece is known for good physical education culminating in the Olympic games and pankration (kind of ancient MMA). A highlight I saw in Athens before meeting my group was the Panathinaiko Stadium, also called Kallimarmaro because it is the world's only stadium built fully in marble stone. The Panathenaic games were held here in the 6th century BC, also the first modern Olympic games were held here in 1896, and Bob Dylan gave a concert in this place! Still today, the annual city marathon finishes here.

The long oval form in white and black (the racetrack on the ground) makes for a simple look for such a historical site. Dark green trees overlooking the edge complete the image under the blue sky. Did you know that the Greek flag is blue and white because a Bavarian prince (Otto von WIttelsbach) was the first king of Greece from 1832 to 1862?

The stadium, built around 330 BC under Lykourgos, has preserved some special spectator seats of honour for the rulers of the city and maybe important guests. I took the opportunity to try them out!

The view from above lets you overlook the whole racetrack. A natural ravine was exploited to shape the stadium. You see the symmetry of the whole building and pieces of the city in the distance.

You could also enter the passage from where the athletes would enter the stadium. It was kind of dark, just some lamps in the sides of the floor illuminated it. This gave it a dramatic atmosphere ... imagine walking out of there to perform at your best for 50,000 spectators!

In a "secret" room at the end of the passage, all the torches for the Olympian flame of every contest are kept as a collection alongside with posters that show the symbols of every Olympic competition.

After racing some other tourists, we made some photos at this historical location. Of course I had to use this occasion for some fun ... after that, I headed back to finally meet my group so we could see the museum of archeology! Read about this in my next post!

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