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Greek lekythos ceramic bowl crafted for the official flame lighting ceremony of the Paris 2024 Summer Olympics, which was held at the birthplace of the Olympic Games in Olympia, Greece, on April 16, 2024. The glazed black bowl measures 6.5˝ in diameter and 5˝ in height, and features hand-painted Ancient Greece–inspired designs and figures, including a torch runner and the Olympic Stadium. Inscribed along the bottom with the relay route: "Olympia - Athens - Paris 2024." The bowl contains its ceramic ring.
The Olympic flame lighting ceremony is held among the pillars in the ruins of the temple of Hera, beneath Kronos Hill at Olympia. 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 a lekythos bowl, which is carried into the ancient stadium and used as a conduit to light the first torch of the Olympic relay.
The 2024 Olympic flame was lit in this traditional ceremony in Olympia on April 16, 2024, though overcast skies required the use of a backup flame lit during the previous day's rehearsal, rather than the parabolic mirror. The flame was then carried through Greece along a 5,000-kilometer relay route to Athens, where it boarded the Belem, a three-masted sailing ship, to cross the Mediterranean Sea to Marseille, where it embarked on its epic journey across France. The relay route then took the Olympic flame through some of France's most iconic places and architectural masterpieces, such as the Lascaux caves, the Alésia archaeological site, the medieval city of Carcassonne, the Palace of Versailles, and many other famous places.
The Olympic cauldron was lit in dramatic fashion on July 26, 2024, at the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Summer Olympics, marking the end of the historic Olympic torch relay and the beginning of the Games.
