The Venues of the 1896 Summer Olympics consisted of seven venues that hosted events for the 1896 Summer Olympics

1896 Summer Olympics

The 1896 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the I Olympiad, was a multi-sport event celebrated in Athens, Greece, from April 6 to April 15, 1896. It was the first international Olympic Games held in the Modern era...

 in Athens

Athens

Athens , is the capital and largest city of Greece. Athens dominates the Attica region and is one of the world's oldest cities, as its recorded history spans around 3,400 years. Classical Athens was a powerful city-state...

, Greece

Greece

Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....

. Panathinaiko Stadium

Panathinaiko Stadium

The Panathinaiko or Panathenaic Stadium , also known as the Kallimarmaro , is an athletic stadium in Athens that hosted the first modern Olympic Games in 1896...

 was the main venues, hosting four of the nine sports contested. The city of Marathon

Marathon, Greece

Marathon is a town in Greece, the site of the battle of Marathon in 490 BC, in which the heavily outnumbered Athenian army defeated the Persians. The tumulus or burial mound for the 192 Athenian dead that was erected near the battlefield remains a feature of the coastal plain...

 served as host to the actual marathon and the individual road race

Road bicycle racing

Road bicycle racing is a bicycle racing sport held on roads, using racing bicycles. The term "road racing" is usually applied to events where competing riders start simultaneously with the winner being the first to the line at the end of the course .Historically, the most...

 events. Swimming

Swimming (sport)

Swimming is a sport governed by the Fédération Internationale de Natation .-History: Competitive swimming in Europe began around 1800 BCE, mostly in the form of the freestyle. In 1873 Steve Bowyer introduced the trudgen to Western swimming competitions, after copying the front crawl used by Native...

 made its debut in the Bay of Zea

Bay of Zea

The Bay of Zea, since Ottoman times and until recently known as Pasalimani , is a broad bay located at the eastern coast of the Piraeus peninsula in Greece. It hosted the swimming events at the 1896 Summer Olympics held in Athens...

 while fencing

Fencing

Fencing, which is also known as modern fencing to distinguish it from historical fencing, is a family of combat sports using bladed weapons.Fencing is one of four sports which have been featured at every one of the modern Olympic Games...

 was held at Zappeion

Zappeion

The Zappeion is a building in the National Gardens of Athens in the heart of Athens, Greece. It is generally used for meetings and ceremonies, both official and private.-Constructing the Zappeion:...

. Sport shooting was held in Kallithea

Kallithea

Kallithea is the 8th largest municipality in Greece and the 4th biggest in the Athens urban area...

. Tennis

Tennis

Tennis is a sport usually played between two players or between two teams of two players each . Each player uses a racket that is strung to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over a net into the opponent's court. Tennis is an Olympic sport and is played at all levels of society at all...

 made its debut in Greece at the Athens Lawn Tennis Club

Athens Lawn Tennis Club

The Athens Lawn Tennis Club is a tennis club founded in Athens, Greece in 1895. The club hosted the tennis events for the 1896 Summer Olympics.The club now has courts for both squash and tennis.-Reference:* &...

, a sport unfamiliar to Greeks at the time of the 1896 Games.

Venues

Venue	Sports	Capacity	Ref.
Athens Lawn Tennis Club Athens Lawn Tennis Club The Athens Lawn Tennis Club is a tennis club founded in Athens, Greece in 1895. The club hosted the tennis events for the 1896 Summer Olympics.The club now has courts for both squash and tennis.-Reference:* &...	Tennis Tennis at the 1896 Summer Olympics At the 1896 Summer Olympics, two tennis events were contested, both for men. They were begun on 8 April and continued on 9 April, 10 April, and 11 April. 13 competitors from 6 nations, including 7 Greeks, took part in the tennis competition...	Not listed.
Bay of Zea Bay of Zea The Bay of Zea, since Ottoman times and until recently known as Pasalimani , is a broad bay located at the eastern coast of the Piraeus peninsula in Greece. It hosted the swimming events at the 1896 Summer Olympics held in Athens...	Swimming Swimming at the 1896 Summer Olympics At the 1896 Summer Olympics, four swimming events were contested, all for men. They were planned and organized by the Sub-Committee for Nautical Sports. All events took place on 11 April in the Bay of Zea...	Not listed.
Kallithea Kallithea Kallithea is the 8th largest municipality in Greece and the 4th biggest in the Athens urban area...	Shooting Shooting at the 1896 Summer Olympics At the 1896 Summer Olympics, five sport shooting events were contested. These events took place at the newly constructed shooting range at Kallithea. They were organized and prepared by the Sub-Committee for Shooting...	Not listed.
Marathon (city) Marathon, Greece Marathon is a town in Greece, the site of the battle of Marathon in 490 BC, in which the heavily outnumbered Athenian army defeated the Persians. The tumulus or burial mound for the 192 Athenian dead that was erected near the battlefield remains a feature of the coastal plain...	Athletics Athletics at the 1896 Summer Olympics At the 1896 Summer Olympics, twelve athletics events were contested. All of the events except the marathon were held in the Panathinaiko Stadium, which was also the finish for the marathon. Events were held on 6 April, 7 April, 9 April, and 10 April 1896 . 64 athletes, all men, from ten nations...  (Marathon (sport)), Cycling Cycling at the 1896 Summer Olympics At the 1896 Summer Olympics, six cycling events were contested at the Neo Phaliron Velodrome. They were organized and prepared by the Sub-Committee for Cycling. Events were held on 8 April, 11 April, 12 April and 13 April 1896...  (Individual road race).	Not listed.
Neo Phaliron Velodrome Neo Phaliron Velodrome The Neo Phaliron Velodrome was a velodrome and sports arena in Athens, Greece, used for the cycling events at the 1896 Summer Olympics, which was later to be the Karaiskakis Stadium.-Reference:...	Cycling (track)	Not listed.
Panathinaiko Stadium Panathinaiko Stadium The Panathinaiko or Panathenaic Stadium , also known as the Kallimarmaro , is an athletic stadium in Athens that hosted the first modern Olympic Games in 1896...	Athletics, Gymnastics Gymnastics at the 1896 Summer Olympics At the 1896 Summer Olympics, eight gymnastics events, all for men, were contested in Panathinaiko Stadium. They were organized and prepared by the Sub-Committee for Wrestling and Gymnastics. Events took place on 9 April, 10 April, and 11 April 1896... , Weightlifting Weightlifting at the 1896 Summer Olympics At the 1896 Summer Olympics, two weightlifting events were contested . The top two places were won by the same two men in each event, though their order was reversed for the two events. The bronze medals were split by the two Greek weightlifters. A total of seven men from five nations competed... , and Wrestling Wrestling at the 1896 Summer Olympics At the 1896 Summer Olympics, one wrestling event was contested. It was organized and prepared by the Sub-Committee for Wrestling and Gymnastics...	80,000
Zappeion Zappeion The Zappeion is a building in the National Gardens of Athens in the heart of Athens, Greece. It is generally used for meetings and ceremonies, both official and private.-Constructing the Zappeion:...	Fencing Fencing at the 1896 Summer Olympics At the 1896 Summer Olympics, three fencing events were contested at the Zappeion. They were prepared and organized by the Sub-Committee for Fencing. The épée event for men was cancelled. All fencing was done to three touches. Events were held on 7 April and 9 April 1896...	Not listed.

The Bay of Zea was used as the swimming venue because the organizers of the games refused to spend money on constructing a special purpose swimming venue.

After the Olympics

Four of the 1896 venues were reused as competition venues for the 2004 Games. The velodrome

Velodrome

A velodrome is an arena for track cycling. Modern velodromes feature steeply banked oval tracks, consisting of two 180-degree circular bends connected by two straights...

 would be renovated into a football

Football (soccer)

Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a sport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball...

 stadium in 1964 and was known as Karaiskakis Stadium

Karaiskakis Stadium

Karaiskakis Stadium is in the Neo Faliro area of Piraeus, Greece. It is the home ground of Olympiacos F.C. and is named after Georgios Karaiskakis , hero of the Greek War of Independence, who was mortally wounded near the area....

. This venue was renovated in 2003 for use as a football

Football at the 2004 Summer Olympics

The football tournament at the 2004 Summer Olympics started on 11 August, , and ended on 28 August.The men's tournament is played by U-23 national teams, with up to three over age players allowed per squad...

 venue for the 2004 Games. During the 2004 Games, Panathinaiko Stadium served as host for archery

Archery at the Summer Olympics

Archery had its debut at the 1900 Summer Olympics and has been contested in 13 Olympiads. Eighty three different nations have appeared in the Olympic archery competitions, with France appearing the most often at 11 times. It is governed by the International Archery Federation...

 competitions and was the finish line for the athletic marathon

Athletics at the 2004 Summer Olympics

At the 2004 Summer Olympics, the athletics events were held at the Athens Olympic Stadium from August 18 to August 29, except for the marathons , the race walks , and the shot put...

 event. The city of Marathon itself served as the starting point for both marathon events during the 2004 Games. Zappeion served as the first home of the organizing committee (ATHOC) for the 2004 Games from 1998 to 1999, and served as the main communications center during those games.

The Bay of Zea is a seaport and marina

Marina

A marina is a dock or basin with moorings and supplies for yachts and small boats.A marina differs from a port in that a marina does not handle large passenger ships or cargo from freighters....

 in the Athens area. Meanwhile the Athens Lawn and Tennis Club remains popular in Greece and helped expose the country to tennis

Tennis

Tennis is a sport usually played between two players or between two teams of two players each . Each player uses a racket that is strung to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over a net into the opponent's court. Tennis is an Olympic sport and is played at all levels of society at all...

for the first time.