Check out the famous venues of the 2024 Paris Olympic Games

The Paris Olympics are set to showcase the City of Light in all its glory, with many of the events taking place in some of its most famous locations. We take a look at five places that will wow ticket holders – and a global television audience of billions – during the 17-day extravaganza that begins on July 26.

The Olympic Games will be held at these iconic locations in Paris

Eiffel Tower

Paris’ most famous landmark, the Eiffel Tower, will be the setting for one of the most popular Olympic disciplines – beach volleyball. The action will take place in a temporary area at the foot of the Iron Lady. Judo and wrestling matches will be held in the Champs de Mars park at the foot of the tower.

When the Eiffel Tower was unveiled by the engineer Gustave Eiffel at the World Exhibition in 1889, it was still frowned upon by Parisians. Today it is the crown jewel of the capital. Not only is it one of the world’s biggest tourist attractions, attracting seven million visitors every year, it is also a telecommunications tower used for radio and television broadcasts.

All winners of the Paris Games are allowed to take a small piece of the iron colossus home with them. Each medal contains an 18-gram piece of original iron that was removed during various renovation works, melted down and reforged.

Grand Palace

Fencing and taekwondo competitions take place in the opulent setting of the Grand Palais art gallery, a masterpiece of glass and steel created for the 1900 Universal Exhibition. Its special feature is the beautiful glass dome roof, the largest of its kind in Europe, which spans a huge exhibition area of ​​13,500 square meters.

During World War I, the Grand Palais stored its art collection and transformed its galleries into a military hospital where soldiers were treated before returning to the trenches. In the 21st century, the airy nave has hosted huge installations commissioned by some of the world’s leading artists. It was also flooded to create the world’s largest ice rink.

Place de la Concorde

The huge paved square at the foot of the Champs-Elysées, where heads (literally) rolled after the French Revolution, will serve as an urban sports centre. Skateboarding, 3×3 basketball, BMX freestyle and – in the first Games – breakdancing – will all take place on the square, which lies just across the Seine from the Invalides, where Napoleon is buried.

The square’s harmonious name conceals a bloody past – King Louis XVI and his wife Marie-Antoinette were among the hundreds of people guillotined here in 1793 during the Reign of Terror following the French Revolution of 1789. The largest square in Paris is dominated by its enormous golden obelisk, one of two obelisks erected by Ramses II in front of the Temple at Luxor and given to Paris in 1830.

Palace of Versailles

Dressage and show jumping take place in the royal park of the Palace of Versailles, about 20 kilometers from Paris, where the marathon circuit is held and where the cross-country and pentathlon competitions also take place. Originally a hunting lodge, “Sun King” Louis XIV transformed Versailles into the residence of the French royal family in the 17th century, where he resided with around 10,000 employees – enough to fill a city.

The extensive palace gardens include a 1.6 km long canal, which was once used for his extravagant parties, complete with sailing gondolas. The canal has been a World Heritage Site since 1979 and is also a popular destination for Parisian tourists.

Marseille

Not all events take place in the capital. The sailing competitions take place in the Mediterranean metropolis of Marseille, France’s lively, generous second city, better known as the home of the football team Olympique Marseille.

Over 300 sailors from all over the world will compete for victory in the sapphire blue waters of the Mediterranean Sea east of the city, where a new marina has been built on the Corniche coastal road – one of the most scenic roads in France.

However, they are unlikely to have Marseille’s strong Mistral wind in their sails – it usually blows in winter and spring. Marseille, which is also hosting ten football matches, is where the Olympic torch relay in France began on May 8.

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(Photo credit: OLYMPIA DE MAISMONT/AFP)

This story was published via AFP Relaxnews

Related: Paris Itinerary: Discover Hidden Gems and Paris Must-Sees Beyond the Eiffel Tower

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The information in this article is correct as of the date of publication.
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