The silver cup given to marathon winner Spyros Louis at the first Modern Olympic Games held in Athens in 1896 has been temporarily moved to Switzerland in order to be exhibited at the Olympic Museum in Lausanne, as Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF) announced.
According to the announcement of SNF, the cup is a symbol of the Olympic spirit and will remain there for six months, giving thus the opportunity to visitors from around the world to admire this important symbol and learn its history.
The Cup of Spyros Louis was designed by Michel Bréal for the winner of the Marathon at the first modern Olympic Games that took place in Athens in 1896.
The cup was acquired in April 2012 by the Stavros Niarchos Foundation on an international auction aiming to contribute to its repatriation which is of great importance for the history of Greece and make it accessible to the Greek people.
Keeping its original promise, SNF provided the cup to the Acropolis Museum for the public and will go on permanent display at the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center, which is currently under construction.
