Lykourgos built the first stadium around 330 BC, mainly for the Panathenaic Games, on a racecourse used since the 6th century BC. It was of poros stone, with a track 669 feet (204 m) long and 112 feet (34 m) wide. Herodes Atticus rebuilt it in Pentelic marble, completed around 143 or 144 AD, with a capacity of 50,000. It fell out of use after festivals were banned in the late 4th century.
Ernst Ziller excavated the site in 1869 and 1870. For the 1896 Olympics, Anastasios Metaxas rebuilt it in Pentelic marble, following Herodes's dimensions. Georgios Averoff donated 920,000 drachmas, and an estimated 60,000 spectators attended the opening ceremony. The article calls it the only stadium in the world built entirely of marble, with a U-shaped track.
It is the annual finish point of the Athens Classic Marathon and the last Greek venue for the Olympic flame handover. In 2004 it hosted archery and both marathon finishes.
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