On November 15, 1859, more than three decades before the first modern Olympic Games were held in Athens, a group of athletes gathered in a public square in the Greek capital to compete in an event that sought to revive one of the most celebrated traditions of ancient Greece. Behind the initiative stood Evangelis Zappas, a wealthy Greek benefactor whose vision and financial support helped lay the foundations for the modern Olympic movement.
The event, known as the Olympia or Zappas Olympics, took place 37 years before the internationally recognized Olympic Games of 1896. Although the 1859 competitions were modest in scale and faced considerable organizational difficulties, they represented one of the earliest practical efforts to restore the ancient Olympic tradition.
Zappas, who had made his fortune in agriculture and landownership in Romania, believed that reviving the Games could strengthen Greece’s national identity and reconnect the newly independent country with its ancient heritage. His initiative would eventually lead to a series of Olympic competitions, the restoration of historic sporting facilities and the construction of one of Athens’ most recognizable landmarks.
The Greek benefactor who brought the Olympics back to Athens
Born around 1800 in the region of Northern Epirus, then part of the Ottoman Empire, Evangelis Zappas participated in the Greek War of Independence, serving alongside revolutionary leaders, including Markos Botsaris. Following the war, he settled in the Romanian principalities, where agricultural investments and landownership helped him accumulate a substantial fortune.
Despite living abroad, Zappas maintained a strong interest in Greece’s development. Inspired partly by the writings of Greek poet Panagiotis Soutsos, who had advocated restoring the ancient Olympic Games, he approached King Otto in 1856 with an ambitious proposal: he would personally finance their revival.
The Greek government eventually accepted his offer, although officials expanded the original concept to include exhibitions of agricultural, industrial and commercial products alongside athletic competitions. A royal decree issued in 1858 formally established the Olympia, envisioning recurring events that would promote both physical achievement and the country’s economic progress.
The first festival opened in Athens in October 1859, with the athletic competitions taking place on November 15 in Plateia Loudovikou, now known as Koumoundourou Square.
The events included running, jumping, discus throwing, javelin throwing and climbing competitions. King Otto and Queen Amalia attended, alongside government officials and members of the public.
However, the organization fell far short of expectations. The square was poorly suited to athletic competitions, visibility was limited, and contemporary newspapers criticized the lack of preparation. Unlike the international Olympic Games that would emerge decades later, the competitions were primarily intended for Greek participants.
Nevertheless, the event established an important precedent: organized athletic competitions explicitly invoking the ancient Olympics had returned to Greece.
The 1859 Games also attracted attention beyond the country’s borders. British physician William Penny Brookes, who had organized Olympic-inspired competitions in Much Wenlock, England, established contact with the Greek organizers and contributed a monetary prize. That award went to Petros Velissarios, an athlete from Smyrna who won a distance race, demonstrating an early connection between Greek and British efforts to restore Olympic competition.
From the Zappas Olympics to the Games of 1896
Although Evangelis Zappas died in 1865, his initiative did not disappear. Through his financial arrangements and the subsequent efforts of his cousin Konstantinos Zappas, additional Olympic festivals were organized in Athens in 1870, 1875 and 1889.
The 1870 competitions marked a significant improvement over the original event, taking place at the partially restored Panathenaic Stadium, where thousands of spectators gathered to watch athletic contests. The stadium’s restoration was among the projects supported by the Zappas legacy.
Another lasting achievement was the construction of the Zappeion, the monumental neoclassical building near the National Garden in Athens. Financed through the Zappas estate and completed in 1888, it was conceived as a permanent venue for exhibitions and activities associated with the Olympic revival.
The building would later play a role in the first modern Olympic Games of 1896, hosting fencing competitions and providing a physical connection between Zappas’ earlier initiative and the new international Olympic movement.
By the late 19th century, the idea of reviving the Olympics had gained momentum in several European countries. French educator Pierre de Coubertin emerged as the principal organizer of a new international sporting institution, leading to the establishment of the International Olympic Committee in 1894.
Two years later, Athens hosted the first modern Olympic Games under IOC auspices, with Greek businessman and writer Demetrios Vikelas serving as the organization’s first president. The Panathenaic Stadium, extensively reconstructed with funding from another Greek benefactor, Georgios Averoff, became the centerpiece of the historic event.
Although Coubertin is widely recognized as the founder of the modern Olympic movement, historians have increasingly examined the contributions of earlier figures, including Zappas and Brookes. Their initiatives demonstrated that organized Olympic-style competitions were possible decades before the creation of the IOC.
Olympic historian David C. Young, whose research helped bring renewed attention to the Zappas Games, has emphasized the importance of recognizing these earlier attempts as part of the broader history of the Olympic revival.
Today, statues of Evangelis and Konstantinos Zappas stand near the Zappeion in Athens, commemorating their contribution to Greek public life and international sport.
One hundred and sixty-seven years after the athletic competitions of November 15, 1859, their legacy offers a reminder that the revival of the Olympic Games did not begin with a single event in 1896.
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