The Panathenaic Stadium played a significant role in the collective consciousness not only of the
ancient Athenians but also of modern Greeks. Founded in the Late Classical period,
monumentalized in the Roman period, and reconstructed in the late 19th century, the Stadium
consistently served one overarching purpose: to provide a venue for large-scale public spectacles. In this paper, I argue that the reconstruction of the Panathenaic Stadium for the first modern international Olympic Games in 1896 aimed to culturally connect antiquity with modernity, thus marking the culmination of Greece’s constructed national identity in the late 19th century.

To demonstrate this, I first examine the significance of the Stadium for the Great Panathenaia in
antiquity; second, I consider how the urban planning of 1830s Athens, during its transformation
into the new capital of Greece, was influenced by the known presence of the—still unexcavated—Stadium, which ultimately led to its excavation in the 1860s; third, I make a brief reference to the 1894 Paris Congress, which determined that Greece would host the 1896 Olympiad, and examine the main figures involved and their roles leading up to the event; fourth, I interpret the key role of the reconstructed Stadium as a key element in the cultural connection between antiquity and modernity, focusing on its benefactors, Herodes Attikos and Georgios Averoff, and the Stadium’s impact on the Olympic Games. Lastly, I evaluate how the monument integrates into the contemporary architectural landscape of Athens and consider its multifunctional use and
emblematic value. The reconstructed Panathenaic Stadium––rooted in the Bavarian Neoclassicism of the 1830s––thus served as an ethno-symbol, a tangible landmark embodying the national cultural landscape of contemporary Greece.

First Author: Miltiadis Kylindreas

Keywords:
Panathenaic Stadium
Reconstruction
1896 Olympic Games
Antiquity and Modernity
Greek National Identity
Cultural Heritage