ATHENS, Oct 25: The countryside around Ancient Olympia that was extensively damaged by forest fires will be restored in time for next year’s Beijing Games torch-lighting ceremony, Greece’s culture minister said on Thursday.

Summer fires damaged hundreds of thousands of acres of forest land in the southern Peloponnese peninsula, killing dozens of people and sweeping into the lush Alfios river valley where Olympia, site of the ancient Olympic Games, is located.

Trees were burnt inside the archaeological site just metres from the ancient stadium and Temple of Hera.

The blaze also damaged a Cypress-ringed clearing inside the Olympic Academy, where the heart of the founder of the modern Olympics, Pierre de Coubertin, is buried.

Actresses playing ancient Greek high priestesses use a parabolic mirror to reflect the sun’s rays onto a small cauldron, which in turn lights the first torch of a relay ahead of the Games.—Reuters