One
of the most popular touristic attraction of Athens (a city that
undeniably has so many) is the Panathenaic
stadium or else the Kallimarmaron
(in greek it means beautiful marble).
With a capacity of 50000 seats and its
place in the centre of the city, Kallimarmaron is more than a stadium
for the Greeks.
A
stadium was built on the site of an ancient racecourse by the
Athenian statesman Lykourgos. It was used for the first time
for the celebration of the Great
Panathenaia in 330/29 BC. By 144 BC, it was
rebuilt in pentelic marble by an Athenian Roman senator Herodes
Atticus (he also funded a number of building projects including the
Odeon located on the southwest slope of Acropolis). In the late 4th A.C, Emperor Theodosius banned Hellenistic spectacles so the stadium
was gradually abandoned until 1836, when archaeological excavations
uncovered traces of the stadium of Herodes Atticus.
In
the mid-1890s a reconstruction plan was prepared by architect A.
Metaxas with the sponsoring of G. Averoff (a greek businessman). In
1896 it opened its gates and held the opening and closing ceremonies
of the first modern Olympic Games.
The rebuilt of the Stadium from pentelic
marble was intentional so that the new stadium
would resemble the ancient monument of Herodes.
It is the only stadium in the world that
is built entirely of marble.
Except
from the Classic
Marathon Race
that finishes every year at the Panathenaic Stadium, various events
and special ceremonies are being held there. Concerts ( like "Rock
In Athens" -1985, with the participation of Depeche Mode, The
Cure, The Clash, etc), the World Athletics Championships in 1997 or
the Welcome Ceremony for
the Hellenic National Football Team,
which won the Euro
2004 Championship.
