Print
Email
The ANZ Stadium Foundation Stone was donated by the Greek Ministry of Culture (7th Directorate of Antiquites of Olympia) and the Municipality of Olympia, with the support of the Athens 2004 Olympic Games Organising Committee, to honour the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games and the official opening of Stadium Australia, the Olympic Stadium (now ANZ Stadium).
The fossilised coral stone (concyliatis lithos) was the material most widely used in the temples and public edifices of ancient Olympia. The temples of Zeus and Hera, the Gymnasium and the Palaistra are among the most important monuments of the Altis built from such stone 3,000 years ago. The coral stone is a limestone formed in the sea 1 to 5 million years ago from the accumulation of non-organic shells of sea-organisms which were fossilised over centuries.
This particular stone was extracted from the ancient quarry at Louvros, located approximately 10 kilometers east of Olympia. The quarry is currently not in use, and special authorisation was required from the Greek Government for the stone's extraction. The stone, part of the protected cultural heritage of Greece, is a very rare and unique gesture to the Australian people on the occasion of the games of the new millennium, which immediately preceded the Athens games of 2004.
The Foundation Stone was officially handed over by Dr Stratis Stratigis, President of the Athens 2004 Olympic Games Organising Committee, representing the people of Greece. Around the circumference of the foundation stone is an inscription in Ancient Greek text, a quote from Aristotle (Rhetoric I, XI 14-15) that reads “Where there is contest, victory exists”.
