History
In ancient times, the stadium on this site was used to host the athletic portion of the Panathenaic Games, in honor of the Goddess Athena. During classical times, it had wooden seating. In 329 BC it was rebuilt in marble by the archon Lycurgus and in 140 AD was enlarged and renovated by Herodes Atticus, giving a seated capacity of 50,000.
The remnants of the ancient structure were excavated and refurbished, with funds provided by Evangelis Zappas, for the revival of the Olympic Games. Zappas sponsored the Olympic Games that were held there in 1870 and 1875. In 1895 the stadium was refurbished a second time for the 1896 Olympics, with completion funding provided by the Greek benefactor George Averoff, whose marble statue now stands at the entrance, based on designs by the architects Anastasios Metaxas and Ernst Ziller.
Read more about this topic: Panathenaic Stadium
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