With only 78 days until the Opening Ceremonies the 2012 Summer Olympics torch was lit under sunny skies in the birthplace of the Ancient Games using a concave mirror to focus the sun’s rays. Standing in front of the 2,600-year-old Temple of Hera, an actress dressed as a high priestess used a concave mirror to focus the sun’s rays and light a torch. After taking an 1,800-mile journey through Greece using 490 torchbearers, the flame will be handed to London organizers on May 17 in Athens’ Panathenian Stadium, where the first modern games were staged in 1896. From here it will be flown to the United Kingdom where it will travel through 1,010 communities leading up to the Opening Ceremonies on July 27th. You can check out this interactive map that shows it’s route.
A priestess holding a lit cauldron performs in the final dress rehearsal for the lighting of the flame held on Wednesday May 9, 2012, in Ancient Olympia, Greece. The flame to be lit in Thursday’s ceremony in the birthplace of the Ancient Olympics will travel to London, where the Summer Games will take place from July 27-Aug. 12. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris) [Source]
Heat rises from the Olympic flame as the High Priestess kneels to continue the rehearsals in Ancient Olympia [Source]
High Priestess Ino Menegaki holds the Olympic flame at the Ancient Stadium during the Rehearsal for the Lighting Ceremony of the Olympic Flame. [Source]
Spyros Gianniotis, a 32-year-old Liverpool-born swimmer, who won a silver medal for Greece in the 5-kilometer open water event four years ago in Beijing, carries the Olympic Flame and and an olive branch during the lighting of the flame ceremony on Thursday May 10, 2012, in Ancient Olympia, Greece. The flame, lit in the birthplace of the Ancient Olympics will travel to London, where the Summer Games will take place from July 27-Aug. 12. (AP Photo/Kostas Tsironis) [Source]
The flame will travel around Greek mainland and islands before being handed to the UK later this month [Source]
After travelling around Greece, the torch will be passed to the UK on May 18 for a 70-day relay around Britain [Source]
The High Priestess is surrounded by other performers during the lighting rehearsal for the Olympic torch [Source]
Once the Greek leg of the torch ceremony is completed, the Olympic flame will be flown to the UK on May 17 [Source]
The London 2012 torch is lit at Ancient Olympia during the ceremony of the lighting of the flame that will burn at the London 2012 Olympic Games. (Photo by Jamie McDonald/Getty Images) [Source]
Alexander Loukos, center, a British boxer of Greek descent, runs with the Olympic flame during the torch relay at the site of ancient Olympia on May 10, 2012. The torch will be handed to London organizers on May 17 in Athens’ Panathiaic Stadium, where the first modern games were held in 1896. [Source]
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