Olympic Flame Lighting Ceremony | Milano Cortina 2026

Olympic Flame Lighting Ceremony | Milano Cortina 2026 with tags olympic games, olympics, olympic, olympic sports, gold, silver, bronze, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2024, tokyo, tokyo 2020, toyko 2021, beijing, beijing 2022, paris, paris 2024

In the sacred grove of Ancient Olympia, where the Olympic Games were born nearly three millennia ago, the Lighting Ceremony of the Olympic Flame marks the symbolic beginning of every Olympic journey.

The ceremony takes place before the Temple of Hera, one of the most venerated sanctuaries of ancient Greece. There, a High Priestess, performs the ancient ritual with grace and reverence. Raising her hands to the sky, she invokes the god Apollo to send his light, calling upon the Sun’s divine radiance to ignite the sacred flame. Using a parabolic mirror to capture the sun’s rays, the flame is born- a symbol of purity, peace, and the eternal continuity of the Olympic spirit.

Surrounded by priestesses and kouroi, she performs a solemn ritual that invokes the harmony between humankind and nature.

The Olympic flame is then placed in an urn and brought to the ancient stadium by Hestiada, priestess keeper of the fire, where it is handed over by the high priestess to the first torchbearer, accompanied by an olive branch, symbol of peace.

Born of Apollo’s light and the timeless land of Zeus, the Olympic Flame embodies the enduring essence of Olympism - a fire that transcends borders, illuminating humanity’s shared pursuit of excellence and peace.

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