MUNICIPALITY OF ANCIENT OLYMPIA
Dear Friends,
The Municipality of Ancient Olympia in collaboration with the International Olympic Truce Center, in a joint effort to further strengthen the Olympic Game’s message for peace, has established since 2016, on the occasion of the Rio de Janeiro Olympic Games, the signing of the Olympic Truce Declaration. We chose the Sacred Site of Olympia for this purpose, in order to attribute further symbolism to this action and add the moral advantage of Olympia’s monuments that constitute a global cultural heritage, since they carry along with them, from the depth of the centuries the most beautiful humanistic values of friendship, peace and fellowship.
This ceremony of the signing of the modern Olympic Truce, according to the ancient standards, takes place in front of the temple of Hera, where the disk of Iphitus was kept, on which the Sacred Truce of the ancient Olympic Games had been engraved, the longest peace treaty of all times, preserved for more than a thousand years. The authenticity of the sacred text is endorsed by the Mayors of the cities of Olympia, Ilida and Sparti, symbolically representing the three ancient cities that had signed the sacred Truce.
This year, on the occasion of the XXIII Winter Olympic Games of Pyeongchang 2018, the Declaration of the Olympic Truce was signed by the President of the Hellenic Republic Mr. Prokopios Pavlopoulos, the President of the International Olympic Committee Mr. Thomas Bach, the Prime Minister of the Republic of Korea Mr. Lee Nak-yeon , Ambassadors, prominent members of the Olympic movement, etc.
It is our strong belief that your personal contribution to this effort for World Peace, by signing the relevant petition of the Olympic Truce Declaration and further promoting this great initiative, will be decisive and a key factor in the world’s recognition.
With honor,
Efthymios Kotzas
Mayor Of Ancient Olympia
