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| Visitors walk among ruins at the site of ancient Olympia on July 26, 2012 in Olympia, Greece. (Image credit: Getty Images via @daylife) |
Excavations are to begin immediately to uncover the remainder of a building of the ancient Gymnasium in Ancient Olympia, venue of the first Olympic Games in antiquity, the state news agency said on Thursday.
The Gymnasium is a monument of exceptional archaeological and cultural value, and its full excavation will complete the archaeological landscape of the Sacred Altis sanctuary. To date, the East Stoa has been partially investigated, at a length of 120 meters.
The ancient gymnasium of Olympia lies north-west of the Altis enclosure on a flat stretch of land by the Kladeos river bank. It is adjacent to the palaestra, which extends the gymnasium complex towards the south.
Here athletes practiced track and field and the pentathlon. Before the construction of the gymnasium in the Hellenistic period, these events took place outdoors. The surviving structure dates to the second century BC. amna
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