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I am a recent college grad with a degree in history, whose concentration was in ancient Greece and Rome, so I am by no means an expert. Anyway, here is what I've found on the subject.
Unlike today's games, the ancient games were held every four years at the same place, Olympia, Greece, which was a site dedicated to Zeus. The games were held in his honor.
They were founded in the year 776 BC and continued every four years until A.D. 426, when they banned by the Christian Emperor Theodosius II of Rome (as Greece had been annexed by the Roman Empire centuries earlier), because they were concidered pagan. He then had the site with all its athletic facilities and temples destroyed.
The site remained devoyed of any real activity until it was rediscovered in 1875.
Here are a couple of sites that I've found which may provide you with more information.
The first is from the the part of the United Nations which oversees all world heritage sites. It has a great gallery, but the info on the site s sparce. The second is from a travel agency. Some of the facts are contradictory to what I know (for instance, one of my books says that there were some young women's footraces held in the stadium, while the website says that women were thrown off a cliff if they even tried to enter the complex), but the dates were correct.
http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/517
http://www.greecetravel.com/olympia/
I should also mention that one of the ancient which was used for (I believe) the discuss in ancient times was extended and modified for the modern games held in Athens in 2004.
Hope that answers your question!
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Where were the 1894 Olympic games held?
Evangelos Zappas, a wealthy Greek philanthropist, sponsored the first modern revival of the Olympic Games.The first modern international Olympic Games was held in an Athens city square in 1859. Zappas paid for the refurbishment of the ancient Panathenian Stadium. This first modern international Olympic Games to be hosted in a stadium was hosted there in 1870, followed by a second 1875. The same stadium was refurbished a second time and used for the Athens 1896 Games. The revival of the Olympic Games, sponsored by Zappas was a dedicated Olympic Games composed of athletes from two countries: Greece and the Ottoman Empire.
How many times has Athens held the Olympic games?
Olympic games were held in Olympia [350 kms west of Athens] since 776 BC until 395 AD, every 4 years and were dedicated to Zeus. In modern times [1896] the Olympic games were relaunched and the first event was held in Athens Greece. Athens had the honor to host the Olympic Games for a second time in the year 2004 [August 13 - 29]. The first Modern Day Olympics were also held in Athens in 1896.
Is there a Greek God of the Olympics?
The ancient Olympics were held in honor of the Greek god Zeus, primarily.
When did the people in the Olympics start wearing clothes?
Clothing has always been a part of the Modern Era of the Olympic Games since they were first instituted in 1896.Nudity was only part of the Ancient Olympics. It was considered good form to look good in the nude then--not only was it considered a sign that a man cared about his body but was also seen as a tribute to the gods.
What was the symbol for Olympics 1896?
I am not sure there was any, the official emblem of the Olympic Games (five rings representing five continents in a white background) was introduced at the beginning of the 20 century).
