“I still remember, when I was a child, when they brought me to Karaiskakis…”.
In a country where myths are passed from mouth to mouth, the phrase “Olympiacos’ stadium” does not just refer to various sports venues, but something deeper. It is about places – shrines of the red and white soul. In every stone, in every railing, in every drop of sweat shed, history writes and rewrites the epic of the team known as Legend. Everything, starting from this football “temple”. The Georgios Karaiskakis Stadium.
It’s Olympiacos’ home, the team’s castle, where the heart of the Club beats. It’s where earthquakes don’t emerge from within the Earth’s bowels, but from the cheering and celebration of the fans, which make Karaiskakis vibrate. From a modest velodrome built in faroff 1895, to its conversion into a stadium and its upgrade into the top football field in the country, this tract of land has its soil signed intertwined with the Reds.
From a modest velodrome built in faroff 1895, to its conversion into a stadium and its upgrade into the top football field in the country
It’s where countless championships, Cups, victories, magical afternoons and evenings were achieved and experienced. There were glorious European nights of football. It’s where Pele’s Santos, Real Madrid, Liverpool, Milan, Manchester United, Juventus, Arsenal and Ajax left defeated. It was also there that one “black afternoon” of February 8, 1981, the darkest page in the Club’s history was written: When 21 souls were forever linked with the history of the Club. A stadium soaked in blood. A monument of football and Olympiacos history; the Legend’s home.
One “quirk” of Greek football history goes back to January 1921, when Olympiacos’ archrivals, Panathinaikos, actual eyed the Faliro district, where the Karaiskakis stands, for its home field.
It was on January 19, 1921 when a general assembly of Panathinaikos members approved the proposal of the Club’s board of directors to lease the land on which Leoforos Alexandras Stadium was later built. A few months earlier, the Greens had attempted to acquire the Neo Faliro Velodrome. That’s the site where the Georgios Karaiskakis stadium was later erected.
In an interview with ERT several years ago, the former general secretary of Panathinaikos, Xenophon Hatzisarantos, had revealed the proposal by the team back in 1921 to lease the land where Olympiacos later wrote the greatest moments of its history.
Panathinaikos was interested in the Neo Faliro Velodrome. Four or five months before leasing the Leoforos Alexandras site from the Municipality of Athens, the club submitted an application to the Olympic Games Committee requesting to lease the field. This would have occurred except that the Committee members replied that their term was ending, therefore they could not undertake this obligation.
The history
The Georgios Karaiskakis was constructed in 1895 as a bicycle track for use in the 1896 Olympic Games. It was purchased from the railway company for 104,000 drachmas and was located next to the country’s first power plant. The first football match hosted at the field was recorded in 1898 between Panellinios and the Athens Cycling Club and ended in a 4-4 draw. Until then, football had not officially appeared in Greece. Later, the railway company donated the site to the Olympic Games Committee. The velodrome began to be used as a football field in the 1920s, and after 40 years, in 1960, it was completely renovated and transformed into a stadium. It was named in 1938.
It was later renamed into the “Georgios Karaiskakis Stadium” in honor of the legendary Greek revolutionary general, Karaiskakis (1782-1827) who fought and died in the Greek War of Independence. Karaiskakis fell in a battle close to where the stadium stands today.
In 1964, it was renovated into a modern stadium for the era, with the cost amounting to 20 million drachmas and the inauguration took place on March 11, 1964.
Construction of the new Karaiskakis Stadium began construction in June 2003 and was delivered exactly a year later in June 2004.
It marked the beginning of an era of great victories for Olympiacos, with incredible records, and with the Club dominating at home. More than 20 years later, the Georgios Karaiskakis is not just the fortress of Olympiakos, but with millions of euros every year in investments, it earns the title of the most modern stadium in the country.
It has hosted the Olympic Games football matches, and Champions League matches. The stadium that successfully hosted the UEFA Super Cup final between Manchester City and Sevilla in the summer of 2023, a match watched by fans from around the world, whose flawless organization earned UEFA’s kudos to the stadium’s management, resulting in a gold plaque for meeting the highest standards as the host of the UEFA Super Cup.
During the Greek first division play, the stadium hosted the most games of any venue, with a record attendance in 1965 of 42,445 spectators at an Olympiakos – AEK match.
Peace & Friendship Stadium
A few hundred meters away is Karaiskakis’ “twin” “, the indoor Peace and Friendship Stadium, which has its own history as a “temple of sports”, another Olympiacos’ basketball home – a court-symbol of basketball supremacy. From 1985 until today, the Reds have woven a web of glory there. Olympiacos was crowned European champion in 1997 at the venue and again reached the top in 2012 and 2013.
The Peace & Friendship Stadium, Olympiacos basketball’s home court.
The Legendary Papastrateio
The small and humble Papastrateio natatorium is the cradle of aquatic champions, standing by the seaside. In its pools, technique was taught, along with faith, dedication and overperformance. Olympiacos in water sports means world championships, LEN Cups, European trophies in men’s and women’s water polo, and incredible Doubles. Here, legends and an empire were born, which continues to dominate and make the club the most successful multi-sports organization in Europe.
Melina Mercouri Arena, volleyball’s nest
Every Olympiakos field, court or pool is a place of triumphs. One such place is the Melina Mercouri Indoor Arena: A fortress of red-and-white volleyball. An arena that “came to life” solely because Evangelos Marinakis decided that Olympiacos’ volleyball programs should have their own home. He funded and built a sports “gem”, a small fortress. And from there, Olympiacos rose to Europe’s summit, with titles in the Challenge Cup and appearances in CEV Cup finals, both for men and women. Unbeaten runs in the Greek championship and unparalleled victories over European giants have been hosted at this venue.
Olympiacos’ venues are not mere static buildings, but sites built with blood, tears, and triumphs. Every wall has seen, every floor has endured and every stand has elevated players, fans and coaches to elated levels, because Olympiacos is not just a club, it’s the inextinguishable flame of Piraeus, which through its sports arenas becomes eternal.
