Panathenaic Stadium

This guide to the Panathenaic Stadium in Athens follows Spyridon Louis, a water carrier running in the first modern Olympic marathon in 1896, who trailed the leaders for most of the race and then, with about ten kilometers left, pulled over at a roadside tavern in the village of Pikermi for a glass of wine. It traces the stadium's own layered past, an ancient marble arena rebuilt for the revived Games with funding from the businessman Georgios Averoff. That same white Pentelic marble was quarried from the mountain that also supplied the Parthenon. Best viewed from the top rows, where the whole horseshoe of seats comes into view.