Turin already a legend on one of the museum’s columns!

[Fiona]

20e – Turin – 2006 – these are the words engraved in marble by a craftsman yesterday. It is the seventh time since the opening of the Olympic Museum in 1993 that he has visited us, systematically every two years, to add a name to the edifice. What does this former judoka think of the Olympic Games? “I am one hundred per cent in favour of the Games, and it is so lovely to see new countries participating in each new edition.”

Like a Greek temple…
The Olympic Museum is reached via a wide esplanade flanked by six columns in white Thassos marble, a present form the Greek government when the Museum was being built. They are reminiscent of the peristyle of a Greek temple, perhaps even the temple of Zeus at Olympia, where the Ancient Games were held.

Summer Games on the right, Winter Games on the left
The first two columns, which face the lake the forecourt on both sides, have been engraved with the numbers, places and dates of the modern Olympic Games, since their revival in 1896 by Baron Pierre de Coubertin. The right-hand column is devoted to the Summer Games, and the left one to the Winter Games.

Seven new names since its opening…
Since the Museum was inaugurated in 1993, one name has been engraved in the immaculate marble for each new edition of the Games. Before Turin today, there was Lillehammer in 1994, followed by Atlanta, Nagano, Sydney, Salt Lake City, and finally Athens in 2004.

THE OLYMPIC MUSEUM

Located in Lausanne, the Olympic Museum houses three forms of human expression - sport, art and culture - in one site.

Prepare for your visit to the Museum by finding out about the permanent and temporary exhibitions, cultural activities and many other events…

olympic.org