Information about Marathonas

1. MARATHON
Odysseas Kominis Altanis
3rd high school of Ymittos

2. GENERAL INFORMATION
Marathon is a lake near Athens with a spectacular dam

3. THE DAM
It is 285m long and about
55m high. Since 1931, it has
been the main
water-source of our city.

4. MARATHON’S BATTLE
The Marathon battle took place in 490 B.C., during the first Persian invasion of Greece
. It was fought between the army of Athens, aided by Miltiades, and the Persian army,
commanded by Daes and Artaphernes. The Greek army won the Persian one. It was
very important because the Persians were unbeatable.

5. THE RACE
• After the end of the battle,Phedepides, a Greek
soldier, ran 42 km from the lake to
Kallimarmaro stadium in Athens and said : ”We
won!”. Then, he died because he was very tired
of the battle and the running.
• From then on, every year, we have a race called
THE MARATHON RUN in which participants ran
the same distance by following the same route
as Phedepides, from the lake to Kallimarmaro
stadium.
• Also, since the first modern Olympic games in
1896, the Marathon race has been an Olympic
sport.

6. THE TOMB
After the battle, the warriors who survived made a tomb for the soldiers who lost their
lives in the battlefield

7. THE LAKE MUSEUM
There is a museum near the lake, which is
about the way people constructed the dam,
their tools , the history of the lake, the
difficulties they faced building the dam etc.