Zappeion Hall

This guide to Zappeion Hall in Athens follows Evangelos Zappas, a Greek merchant in Romania obsessed with reviving the Olympic Games, who funded athletic contests in the 1850s and willed a fortune toward a permanent hall beside the ancient Temple of Olympian Zeus. It traces the project through his death in 1865, his cousin Konstantinos Zappas taking over, and architect Theophil Hansen's design, until the hall opened in 1888 hosting fencing at the 1896 Olympics. Look up at the columned atrium said to hold Zappas's own remains.