The all-marble Panathenaic Stadium in Athens is getting its first deep clean in more than a century.
Once the site of Ancient Greek athletic contests, the U-shaped stadium fell into centuries of disuse until it was rebuilt for the first modern Olympic Games in 1896. The landmark has remained the site of the Olympic flame send-off since.
The stadium is made of the same marble used on the Acropolis monuments. Crews are carefully spraying the stadium’s 47 tiers with clean water at low pressures, and using steam to remove dried chewing gum.
Upgrades at Panathenaic Stadium will continue for the rest of the year. But the stadium will be ready for partial use for the Dakar Youth Olympics’ torch-passing ceremony in September.
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