Episode 1 of 2
Opening of the First Zappas Olympics
- When
- 15 November 1859
- Where
- City square in central Athens
The first modern revival of the athletic Olympic Games took place in Athens on 15 November 1859, sponsored by Evangelis Zappas.
The event was held in a city square in central Athens, not the Panathenaic Stadium. Athletes competed in disciplines similar to ancient games, including running, discus, javelin, wrestling, jumping, and pole climbing. Zappas provided the funds for the staging of the games.
Sources
- Zappas Olympics Wikipedia, revision of 2026-06-08
- Evangelos Zappas Wikipedia, revision of 2026-05-03
Machine-drafted from the cited Wikipedia passages and checked by a reviewing model, not by a human editor. Every passage cites the revision it was written from; dates and places follow those passages.