Ancient Olympic Stadium

Today, November 10, 2018 we finally visited the Panathenaic Stadium, ¨Kallimarmaro¨, which is a dream come true for me. Many years I have taught the value and importance of the Olympic values through sport and teaching physical education. These are made up of three Olympic values – Friendship, Respect and Excellence – along with the four Paralympic values – Determination, Inspiration, Courage and Equality. The values underpin the Games as a set of universal principles, but they can be applied to education and our lives, as well as to sport itself. (Wikipedia). There are also the motto, oath and creed of the Olympics, which are taken by the Olympians when chosen for team membership and when participating in the events. A stadium was built on the site of a simple racecourse by the Athenian statesman Lykourgos (Lycurgus) c. 330 BC, primarily for the Panathenaic Games. It was rebuilt in marble by Herodes Atticus, an Athenian Roman senator, by 144 AD and had a capacity of 50,000 seats. After the rise of Christianity in the 4th century it was largely abandoned. The stadium was excavated in 1869 and hosted the Zappas Olympics in 1870 and 1875. After being refurbished, it hosted the opening and closing ceremonies of the first modern Olympics in 1896 and was the venue for 4 of the 9 contested sports. It was used for various purposes in the 20th century and was once again used as an Olympic venue in 2004. It is the finishing point for the annual Athens Classic Marathon. It is also the last venue in Greece from where the Olympic flame handover ceremony to the host nation takes place. (Wikipedia). It was an amazing experience to be in a place that has seen so much history and significant events. I listened and watched the symphony practice for tomorrow´s marathon event and it was exciting! The last three photos are the Zappeio (government building for meetings and ceremonies) and the Lord Byron, the Athens Key statue.-Mona I absolutely loved going to the first ever Olympic Stadium. It was a dream to go there and I am so grateful to have gone. It is in such amazing shape and the marathon runners must be overjoyed to run there. I would! I liked looking at the view from above, very beautiful. It gives a great view of the Acropolis too!-Angelina