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Greek lekythos ceramic bowl used in the official flame lighting ceremony of the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics, which was held at the birthplace of the Olympic Games in Olympia, Greece, on November 26, 2025. The glazed black bowl measures 6.5˝ in diameter, 4.75˝ in height, and features hand-painted designs and figures, including a torch runner, the Coubertin Monument, two wrestlers, the Krypte tunnel, and maps of Italy and Greece with marked locations of Cortina, Rome, and Olympia. The bowl contains its interior ceramic ring. In very fine condition.
Among the pillars, in the ruins of the Temple of Hera, beneath Kronos Hill, a parabolic mirror is used to concentrate the rays of the sun and spark a flame, an invocation of Apollo, the Greek god of light. The flame is used to ignite the Olympic torch held by the High Priestess, and from this torch, the flame is passed, or kissed, to the lekythos bowl, which is carried into the ancient stadium and used as a conduit to light the first torch of the Olympic relay.
Due to heavy rain and strong winds at Ancient Olympia, organizers lit the Olympic flame early on November 24, 2025, during a dress rehearsal, using the traditional parabolic mirror and the sun's rays. The flame was kept continuously alight in a safety lamp until it was used to light the Olympic torch at the Archaeological Museum of Olympia, where the official torch relay ceremony was held on November 26, 2025.
The Greek leg of the relay involved more than 450 torchbearers, who carried the flame over 2,200 kilometers (1,400 miles) across 23 regional units and seven regions of the country. The route included stops at twelve of Greece's largest ski resorts, as well as 36 welcoming ceremonies held over nine days celebrating Greece's cultural and winter-sport heritage. After lighting the cauldron at the historic Panathenaic Stadium in Athens, the flame was formally handed over to Italian organizers and flown to Italy. It arrived at Rome's Quirinal Palace on December 4, marking the symbolic transfer to the host nation, with the Italian relay officially beginning two days later from the Stadio dei Marmi.
Once in Italy, the flame traveled through several regions before visiting the islands of Sardinia and Sicily, and then returning to the mainland. The route visited all 20 regions of Italy and 110 provinces, engaging thousands of participants and communities nationwide, before concluding at San Siro Stadium in Milan, where the flame lit the Olympic cauldron during the Opening Ceremony of the Games on February 6, 2026.
