Images captured during a walk at the Olympic complex of Athens, in Greece on January 11th the year 2020; Shutterstock ID 1830934313; your: Erin Lenczycki; gl: 65050; netsuite: Digital; full: POI
1830934313

Shutterstock / silisab77

Athens Olympic Complex

Athens


For the 2004 Olympics, this park with several stadiums and a pool was revamped by Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava, who built a signature winglike canopy on the main stadium's roof. It hosts major sports events and concerts. There are guided tours for groups (minimum 15 people; per person €3) but independent travellers can wander around to see such features as the wavy, white Wall of Nations display.

Of all the Olympics facilities, this is the only one that is maintained and regularly used. Unfortunately, spaces such as the pool and tennis centre are open only to registered members, not day visitors. The rest, scattered around Athens and the southern peninsula, have been largely left to decay, due to a lack of funds for maintenance.

Transportation

  • metro: Irini

Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby Athens attractions

1. We Need Books

3.53 MILES

Drop by this free library, play space and social integration centre run by the NGO We Need Books, which helps marginalised and vulnerable people,…

2. Kypseli Municipal Market

3.56 MILES

This modernist 1935 market building has been reinvigorated by the city by a range of social projects including the first physical store for the non-profit…

3. National Sculpture & Art Gallery

3.66 MILES

While the National Gallery is being rebuilt, a small portion of the collection is on display at the National Sculpture Gallery, in the former royal…

4. Ileana Tounta Contemporary Art Centre

3.97 MILES

Established in 1988, this venerable arts hub in a warehouse is one of the more prestigious places to exhibit in the city. Shows include both Greek and…

5. Victoria Square Project

4.19 MILES

Established by American artist Rick Lowe, known for his Project Row Houses in Houston, Texas, this storefront is what he calls a 'social sculpture': a…

6. Lykavittos Hill

4.34 MILES

The 277m summit of Lykavittos – 'Hill of Wolves', from ancient times, when it was wilder than it is now – gives the finest panoramas of the city and the…

7. National Archaeological Museum

4.38 MILES

Housing the world's finest collection of Greek antiquities in an enormous neoclassical building, this museum is one of Athens' top attractions. Treasures…

8. Epigraphical Museum

4.4 MILES

On the south side of the National Archaeological Museum, this is an important collection of Greek inscriptions, but the main halls' tersely labelled…

  • placement: superzone
  • path: Destinations/POIs/superzone
  • possible size: [970, 250], [970, 90], [728, 90], [1, 1],
  • targeting:
    {
      "url": "greece/athens/attractions/athens-olympic-complex/a/poi-sig/1008066/359421",
      "destination": "Athens",
      "continent": "Europe",
      "country": "Greece",
      "city": "Athens",
      "position": "superzone"
    }