The Olympic Games back in the days of antiquity were an incredibly large-scale sports competition. Originating in the 8th century BC, they survived until 394 AD, very little before the final fall of the Western Roman Empire, with which the ancient world as a whole died. The ancient capital of the Olympic Games was located in the city of Olympia, from Which, in fact, they got their name. During the polis and in the Roman period the competitions enjoyed incredible popularity. So, excavated by archaeologists in the XIX century, the ancient stadium could hold up to 45,000 spectators, despite the fact that the population of the whole Hellas was estimated at from one to three million inhabitants. Sport has become so popular that it literally towered above even political and social issues that fell into the background during the games. Everyone knows the ancient tradition of truce in these periods (which the Greeks themselves called ecerchia). Moreover, for diplomats from both sides the capital of the Olympic Games was a place for meetings and negotiations. The abolition of this sporting event was not connected with the crisis tendencies of the ancient empire in general, but more with the emergence of Christianity as a state ideology. The growing religion, claiming world domination, prejudiced the Olympic tradition of sacrifice, an obvious pagan orientation, the cult of human strength and agility, a beautifully built body. In 394, Emperor Theodosius was banned, and the game did not live very long until the fall of civilization itself under the onslaught of barbarians.
Revival of traditional competitions
At the end of the XIX century, when the sport not only regained great popularity in our world, but also became professional, the first competitions began to be created. Not surprisingly, for the conduct of new games, their ancestor, Greece was elected. And 1 capital of the Olympic Games of our time is the city of Athens. Although, as the first attempt, they had many shortcomings, very different from modern ones, but they aroused quite a keen interest. Athens, the ancient city, the capital of the Olympic Games again, it gathered many spectators and athletes from fourteen countries. And again the competitions became one of the higher incarnations World sport, a symbol of peace. However, it used to be different. In 1936, the summer capital of the Olympic Games - Berlin - was also the capital of the aggressive Hitler regime, which in the same year brought its troops to the Rhine demilitarized zone and for several more years committed flagrant violations of international treaties, which eventually led to the Second World war and temporary suspension of the competition from 1940 to 1944.
Russian Reception
Among all other interesting features of modern competitions from their antique prototype is the inclusion of winter sports in them. Accordingly, today there is a winter and summer capital of the Olympic Games. So, the last summer events were hosted by London in 2012, and the winter ones by Vancouver in 2010. In 2014, the capital of the Olympic Games is the Russian Sochi.