The Olympic torch will go on a 12,000 km (7,455 mile) journey across Italy in the two months leading up to the Winter Olympics in February, Games organisers said on Monday.
The relay will take in famous tourist spots including the Colosseum in Rome and the Grand Canal in Venice, as well as stopping in southern cities such as Palermo and Naples to spark excitement in areas where winter sports are not a major feature.
The Games will be co-hosted by Milan and the Dolomite resort of Cortina d’Ampezzo and run from February 6-22.
“Every step of the relay through our cities will remind the world of the power of sport to build bridges and break down barriers,” said Giovanni Malago, president of the Milano Cortina 2026 Foundation, adding the journey would celebrate “the essence of Italy.”
The torch relay will begin on November 26 when the flame is lit in Olympia, the Greek home of the ancient Games.
The flame will be handed over to Italian officials in Athens on December 4 and begin its Italian trip from Rome two days later. It will be in Naples for Christmas, see in the New Year in the southern city of Bari, and reach Cortina on January 26 – exactly 70 years after the opening ceremony of the 1956 Games.
The relay will start each day at 7:30 a.m. (0630 GMT) and conclude around 12 hours later with the lighting of the cauldron in the final city of the day. It will conclude in Milan, entering the San Siro stadium on the evening of February 6.
-Reuters