Panathenaic Stadium

This must-see monument in Pagrati, opposite the Zappeion Gardens and beneath the hills of Agra and Ardettus, stands apart from the many in Athens, and, in the world. For starters, it has withheld the test of time, and is one of the few ancient stadiums to host significant international modern sports and cultural events. One glance at the roster of "performers" and "clients" over the years is testament to its unique character: from the Panathenaia festival in the 4th century B.C. to the Greek MTV launch concert in 2008. The stadium's history also reads like a who's who in Athens history beginning in 330 B.C. when Athenian financier Lykourgos supervised its construction, which at the time consisted of wooden seats and was used to house the Panathenaia festival every four years. Athenian aristocrat and Roman Senator Herod Atticus who, by coincidence, was born in Marathon, Greece, built a new marble stadium in its place in 139-140 and 143-144 A.D. with a seating capacity of 50,000 and a track of 205 metres and width of 33.35 metres. In 1869, well known architect Ernst Ziller excavated the site and in 1894, when Athens undertook the revival of the Olympic Games, architect Anastassios Metaxas backed up by benefactor Georgios Averoff drew up plans for its marble modernization. Four rows of marble seating were completed by the time the first modern Olympics took place (the others were painted white for conformity), as were five bridges that extended across the river that once ran in front of the stadium on what is today Vassileos Konstantinou Avenue. Construction was completed in its present format in 1906 and consists of 47 rows of seats and 60, 000 seating capacity. Each year the Athens Marathon terminates here.