Markopoulo Olympic Equestrian Center

The Olympic Equestrian Centre of Markopoulo in Attica (www.markopoulo.gr), he construction of which was completed in 2003, hosted the Olympic and Paralympic Equestrian Games in August and September 2004, respectively. It is a state-of-the-art Olympic Centre in one of the best developed areas of Attica, in close proximity to the International Airport Eleutherios Venezelos and the Attica Highway (Attiki Road).

Covering an area of 940.000 square metres, the Centre comprises meeting rooms and offices, permanent viewing stands, competition and warm-up areas, stabling facilities for 280 horses and parking lots. The competition grounds themselves include: the main Show Jumping Arena- a grass area of 90x120 metres, the main sand Dressage Arena measuring 80x40 metres, a final warm-up area of 60x20 metres for Dressage, an indoor riding school of 70x30 with sand footing, a general grass training/warm-up area of 90x90, two more general training/warm-up maneges of 90x45 metres each with sand and three further training/warm-up Dressage areas of 60x20 metres each.

In addition, there is a Cross Country Course 5,710 metres in length, accommodating about 35 obstacles. This has its own additional grass warm-up paddock. The Olympic Equestrian Centre also hosted the Olympic Test Event, Athens CCI**, in August 2003, while since then the Hellenic Equestrian Federation has used these grounds to hold all its International Competitions, including World Cups.

The Olympic Equestrian Centre is situated at a distance of about 8 kilometers from the International Airport Eleutherios Venezelos and just a short distance from Porto Rafti, a popular seaside resort.