Visiting the Panathenaic Stadium in Athens (Greece)
On the day we arrived, we briefly passed by the Panathenaic Stadium (which means “stadium of all Athenians”) in a taxi. It was only two days before we left that I finally decided to visit it. It is a bit out of the way, but you can get there by public transport.
This stadium has a (very, very) long history.
- It was inaugurated in 330 BC
- It was renovated (entirely in marble) around 140 AD and could hold 50,000 people
- At the end of the 4th century, pagan ceremonies were banned, the stadium gradually fell into ruin, was turned into a wheat field, and then completely forgotten
- In 1836 (1,500 years later!), remnants of the stadium were found during archaeological excavations
- It was rebuilt for the first Olympic Games of the modern era in 1896
- During the 2004 Olympic Games, it hosted the archery competitions and the finish of the Marathon
Entrance to the site costs €10. If you just want to take a photo, you can do so from the outside.
The stadium certainly no longer looks anything like it did in antiquity, but you can still feel the weight of history.
Its stands, all in marble and with very tight turns, make it unlike any stadiums or athletic tracks we know today.
