Marathon. (Marathonas) Marathon is a city in Attica, Greece. Here, in the year of 490 BC, took place "The Battle of Marathon". The great battle between the Athenians and Persians is considered one of the most important of antiquity. The Athenians managed to defeat the powerful and much larger Persian army. Phidippides was instructed to walk to Athens as soon as possible, to tell the good news. Phidippides ran as fast as he could, but when he arrived in Athens, he could just say " we won!" and then the messenger fell dead. He appeared to be exhausted and suffered a stroke.
There's at Marathon little that remains of the battle between the Athenians and Persians. Only a mound, where the 192 soldiers who died are buried and finds that are exhibited in the Archaeological Museum of Marathon (opening hours: Tuesday - Sunday 8:00 to 15:00 pm) remind us of this important event.
Every second Sunday of November thousands of runners appear from around the world at the start in Marathon to run more than 42 kilometers to Athens.
In modern times, there is built a large dam at Marathon. It is located not far from the spot where the battlefield was. The water of the artificial lake provides the city of Athens from drinking water. Marathon today is a modern town.