The Panathenaic Stadium

The Greek stadium

The site was laid out in the fourth century BC for the athletic contests of the Panathenaic Games, in a natural ravine between two hills that gave the seating its shape. Around AD 144 Herodes Atticus rebuilt it in marble on a scale for something like fifty thousand spectators. After antiquity it was quarried and farmed and disappeared under earth.

The 1896 rebuild

Excavated in the 1870s and then rebuilt entirely in white Pentelic marble at the expense of Georgios Averoff for the first modern Olympic Games in April 1896 — the only stadium in the world built wholly of marble. The long horseshoe and the tight turns are faithful to the ancient plan, which is why it is a poor track by modern standards and a remarkable object.

What it is used for now

The finish of the Athens Classic Marathon every November, the handover ceremony of the Olympic flame before every Games, and concerts. In 2004 it hosted the archery and the marathon finish. Most days it is a museum with a running track in it.

What the visit actually is

You walk in at track level, go round, climb the tiers for the view back toward the Acropolis, and take the vaulted tunnel the athletes used. There are two marble thrones on the long side, a winners' podium you may stand on, and a small museum of Olympic torches and posters from every Games. The audio guide runs thirty minutes in eleven languages and is included; it is the difference between a photograph and a visit.

Hours

March to October, 08:00 to 19:00. November to February, 08:00 to 17:00. The page gives last entry as the closing time itself rather than earlier, which is unusual, and it recommends the morning and late afternoon in summer for temperature — the marble tiers reflect heat and there is nowhere to get out of it.

Getting there

The stadium is about a kilometre from Syntagma, Akropoli and Evangelismos stations, so any of the three works. City buses 2, 4, 10, 11, 90, 209 and 550 and trolleys 2, 4, 10 and 11 stop at "Stadium"; tram line 6 stops at Zappeio. There is bike parking at the entrance.

The pleasant way in on foot is through the National Garden and past the Zappeion.

Access

Both the track and the stoa are accessible to wheelchair users, according to the stadium's own page. The tiers are steep marble steps and, as the same page warns, they can be slippery in winter.

The small print

Take cash for the lavatory — €1.50, exact amount. Take water; there is a canteen but no shade. And take the audio guide device at the entrance rather than waving it away: without it the stadium is fifteen minutes and a photograph.