Stadium First Olympic Games 1896, see 75 photos
"The Panathenaic Stadium is located in the heart of Athens on the site of an ancient stadium and for many centuries hosted games in whiche nude athletes competed (gymnikoi agones) in track events, athletics championships as we would call them today. In the forth century BC, during the archonship of Lykourgos, the building of a stadium was included in the public works carried out in Athens. The ravine running between Ardettos Hill and the low high opposite, in a idyllic setting on the banks of the River Ilissos, was deemed to be a ideal location. This was private land but its owner , Deinias, conceded it to the State for the construction of a Stadium. major earth-removal works transformed the ravine in a space for contests, with the features of the Greek stadium, of parallelogram shape with entrance at one narrow and room for the spectators on the earth slopes of the other three sides. Lykourgos Stadium was used for the first time during the celebration of the Great