Olympic history at the Marathon Museum

Ancient battle gave rise to sporting event

Marathon, which lies 42 kilometers northeast of Athens and is the scene of an ancient battle during the Greco-Persian Wars, has a museum dedicated to the Olympic event to which it gave its name. The museum hosts a permanent exhibition titled “Olympic Marathons,” which was donated by the Olympic Museum of Lausanne, with texts and photographs on the history of the event. There are smaller thematic units referring to Olympic champions, city marathons, the women’s event and Gregoris Lambrakis, a well-known athlete, peace activist and politician who was assassinated in 1963.

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A special area hosts the Marathon flame, which traveled to China’s Xiamen -- a twinned city with Marathon -- for the 2008 Olympics.
In Marathon you can also see the tomb monument, a mound roughly 9 meters high erected to host the bodies of the 192 Athenians who fell in the victorious battle against the Persians in 490 ΒC.
Also worth visiting is Marathon Lake, an artificial reservoir that supplies Athens with much of its water, the dam and the surrounding, pine-clad area.
Along the coast near Marathon is the Schinias National Park, a forested area, 3 kilometers long and 200-350 meters wide, with ponds, marshland that usually floods in winter and many sand dunes along the coast.
The Marathon Museum (Marathonos & Eikostis Pemptis Martiou, tel 22940.67617/67630) is open 9 a.m. - 2 p.m. & 5-7 p.m. Mondays & Wednesdays-Fridays, 9 a.m. - 2 p.m. Tuesdays, 10 a.m. - 2 p.m. & 5-7 p.m. Saturdays, 10 a.m. - 2 p.m. Sundays. Τickets: 2 euros, 1 euro for children; senior citizens and teachers free. KTEL buses (210.880.8080 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting              210.880.8080      end_of_the_skype_highlighting) leave for Marathon on the hour from the Pedion tou Areos park, stopping at Ambelokipi and Ethniki Amyna metro stations.
info: ekathimerini

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