Originally, since the 6th century BC, a racecourse stood at the site. It hosted the Panathenaic Games (also known as the Great Panathenaea), a religious and athletic festival celebrated every four years in honour of the goddess Athena. The racecourse had no formal seating and the spectators sat on the natural slopes on the side of the ravine.[1]

In the 4th century BC the Athenian statesman Lykourgos (Lycurgus) built an 850-foot (260 m) long stadium of Poros limestone.[2] Tiers of stone benches were arranged around the track. The track was 669 feet (204 m) long and 110 feet (34 m) wide.[1] In the Lives of the Ten Orators Pseudo-Plutarch writes that a certain Deinas, the owner of the property where the stadium was built was persuaded by Lykourgos to donate the land to the city and Lykourgos leveled a ravine.[3][4] IG II² 351 (dated 329 BC), records that Eudemus of Plataea gave 1000 yoke of oxen for the construction of the stadium and theater. According to Romano the "reference to the large number of oxen, indicating a vast undertaking, and the use of the word charadra have suggested the kind of building activity that would have been needed to prepare the natural valley between the two hills near the Ilissos."[4] The stadium of Lykourgos is believed to have been completed for the Panathenaic Games of 330/329 BC.[10] Donald Kyle suggests that it is possible that Lykourgos did not build but "renovated or embellished a pre-existing facility to give it monumental stature."[11] According to Richard Ernest Wycherley the stadium probably had stone seating "only for a privileged few."[6]

 

Herodes Atticus rebuilt the stadium in marble by 144 AD

Herodes Atticus, an Athenian who rose to the highest echelons of power in Rome, was responsible for numerous structures in Greece. In Athens he is best known for the reconstruction of the Panathenaic Stadium.[12][a] Tobin suggests that "Herodes built the stadium soon after [his father] Atticus's death, which occurred around A.D. 138. The first Greater Panathenaia following his father's demise was 139/40, and it is probable that at that time Herodes promised the refurbishment of the stadium. According to Philostratus, it was completed four years later, which would have been in 143/4."[12] These dates (139/140-143-144 AD) are now widely cited as construction dates of the stadium of Herodes Atticus.[15][2][8] Welch writes that the stadium was completed by 143, in time for Panathenaic festival.[13]

 

Marble chair from the stadium in the British Museum

The new stadium was built completely of ashlar masonry[16] in Pentelic marble,[1][2] using minimal concrete.[16] The stadium was built at a time of resurgence of Greek culture in the mid-2nd century. Although the stadium was a "quintessentially Greek architectural type",[13] it was "Roman in scale" with a massive capacity of 50,000,[6] which is roughly the same as that of the Stadium of Domitian in Rome.[16] Stadia of the Classical and Hellenistic periods were smaller.[16][5] According to Welch there is a possibility that criminals were executed in the stadium, however, no evidence exists.[17]

A Roman marble throne from the prohedria of the stadium is kept in the British Museum. One side of the throne includes a relief showing an olive tree and a table on which rests a Panathenaic amphora with the front leg in the form of an owl.[18]

Herodes Atticus built it as "an architectural means of self-representation, and it did something analogous. The architecture of the building makes allusions to the Classical past while remaining unmistakably modern. It is Roman in scale, but it self-consciously rejects the distinguishingly Roman features of monumental facade and extensive vaulting."[16] Its cavea was decorated with owls in relief, which symbolize Athena.[16] Katherine Welch wrote in a 1998 article "Greek stadia and Roman spectacles":[19]

 

The ruins of the stadium in the background, 1835

After Hellenistic festivals and bloody spectacles were banned by Roman Emperor Theodosius I in the late 4th century, the stadium was abandoned and fell into ruin. Gradually, its significance was forgotten and a field of wheat covered the site.[15] During the Latin rule of Athens, Crusader knights held feats of arms at the stadium. A 15th century traveler saw "not only several rows of white marble benches, but also the portico at the entrance of the Stadion, which he calls the North entrance, and the Stoa round the koilon, which he calls the South entrance."[20] The derelict stadium's marbles were incorporated into other buildings. European travelers wrote of "magical rites enacted by young Athenian maidens in the ruined vaulted passage, aimed at finding a good husband."[7]

 

The stadium 1870, following excavations by Ziller

Following Greece's independence, archaeological excavation as early as 1836 uncovered traces of the stadium of Herodes Atticus. Further, more thorough, excavation was conducted by the German-born architect Ernst Ziller in 1869–70.[21] Some marbles of the stadium and four Hermai were found.[22] The Zappas Olympics, an early attempt to revive the ancient Olympic Games, were held at the stadium in 1870 and 1875. They were sponsored by the Greek benefactor Evangelis Zappas.[7] The games had an audience of 30,000 people.[23]

The Greek government, through crown prince Constantine, requested the Egypt-based Greek businessman George Averoff, to sponsor the second refurbishment of the stadium prior to the 1896 Olympics.[24] Based on the findings of Ziller, a reconstruction plan was prepared by the architect Anastasios Metaxas in the mid-1890s.[25] Darling writes that "He duplicated the dimensions and design of the second-century structure, arranging the tiers of seats around the U-shaped track."[26] It was rebuilt in Pentelic marble and is "distinguished by its high degree of fidelity to the ancient monument of Herodes."[7] Averoff donated 920,000 drachmas to this project.[26][24] As a tribute to his generosity, a statue of Averoff was constructed and unveiled on 5 April 1896 outside the stadium. It stands there to this day.[27]

The stadium held the opening and closing ceremonies of the 1896 Olympics.[28] On 6 April (25 March according to the Julian calendar then in use in Greece), the games of the First Olympiad were officially opened; it was Easter Monday for both the Western and Eastern Christian Churches and the anniversary of Greece's independence.[29] The stadium was filled with an estimated 80,000 spectators, including King George I of Greece, his wife Olga, and their sons. Most of the competing athletes were aligned on the infield, grouped by nation. After a speech by the president of the organizing committee, Crown Prince Constantine, his father officially opened the games.[30] The stadium also served as the venue for Athletics, Gymnastics, Weightlifting and Wrestling.[31]

 

Reconstruction works at the stadium, 1895

 

The first day of the 1896 Olympics

 

Entrance of participants to the stadium. The Acropolis is seen in the background.

 

The opening ceremony

The stadium hosted the 1906 Intercalated Games from 22 April to 2 May.[32]

 

Archery matches in the stadium during the 2004 Olympics

From the mid- to late 1960s, the stadium was used by AEK Basketball Club. On 4 April 1968, the 1967–68 FIBA European Cup Winners' Cup final was hosted in the stadium where A.E.K. defeated Slavia VŠ Praha in front of around 80,000 seated spectators inside the arena and another 40,000 standing spectators. It is believed that since that game the Panathenaic Stadium holds the world record attendance for any basketball game as of 2021.[33]

During the Regime of the Colonels (1967–74), large annual events were held at the stadium, particularly the "Festival of the Military Virtues of the Greeks" (in late August-early September) and the "Revolution of 21 April 1967", the date of the coup that brought the right-wing regime to power. In these festivals, the stadium, "with its aura of antiquity stood as a monument to Greek rebirth, national pride, and international interest." The dictators exploited its setting to showcase their supposed popularity and propagate their new, "revolutionary" political culture.[34]

The stadium "needed no major refurbishing" prior to the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens.[35] During the games the stadium hosted the archery competition (15–21 August) and was the finish of the Marathon for both women (22 August) and men (29 August).[36][37]

The opening ceremony of the 2011 Special Olympics World Summer Games were held here which featured special appearances such as Stevie Wonder, Vanessa Williams and Zhang Ziyi. The games ran from 25 June to 5 July.

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