The Panathenaic Stadiumin central Athens (aka the Kallimarmaro), the venue of the first modern Olympics in 1896, received a record number of visitors in 2017, the Hellenic Olympic Committee (HOC) said on Thursday.

A total of 223,471 people, including 100,041 young pupils and students, visited the site, which is managed by HOC and is one of Athens’s most popular tourist attractions and landmarks.

The stadium was reopened to the public after a long hiatus in 2010. Since then more and more Greeks and foreigners have visited the place where the Marathon race ends and the handover ceremonies for the Olympic Flame are held.

The Panathenaic Stadium features an audio tour included in the price of the ticket. Upon entering the grounds, each visitor receives an audio guide device in 10 languages (English, French, German, Italian, Greek, Spanish, Japanese, Arabic, Russian and Chinese). The tour also includes a visit to an exhibition of posters and torches from the 1896 Olympics to today.

All proceeds support the work of HOC in particular during the years of the debt crisis in Greece when it receives fewer state funds, the press announcement concluded.

This article first appeared on ekathimerini.com on 4/1/2018