The Panathenaic Stadium - A Tour of the Ancient Monument

Join award-winning author and historian, Adam Alexander Haviaras, on a tour of one of the greatest monuments of ancient Athens: the Panathenaic Stadium.

Originally the site of a horse racing course from the 6th century B.C., between the hills of Agras and Ardittos, a new stadium was constructed for athletic competitions during the Panathenaic Festival of Athens during the archonship of Lykourgos in the 4th century B.C.

The new stadium, which had earthen embankments where spectators sat to watch the games, was used for the first time during the celebration of the Greater Panathenaea of 330/329 B.C.

Eventually, during the reign of the Roman Emperor Hadrian (A.D. 117-138), a great philhellene, the orator and philanthropist, Herodes Atticus, sponsored the renovation and redesign and had the stadium rebuilt in white, Pentelic marble from the quarries outside the city. The vaulted passage through which athletes entered the stadium was also built at this time, and the entire stadium was adorned with statuary. It could seat well over 50,000 spectators.

Today, the Panathenaic Stadium, which was the site of the revived Olympic Games in 1896, and a venue of the 2004 Athens Olympic Games, is one of the most recognizable monuments of Ancient Greece and the city of Athens.

For more information about this site and others, ancient history, and Greek Mythology, visit https://eaglesanddragonspublishing.com/article-archive/ .

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