Belem

The Olympic torch relay began in Marseille on Thursday with football legend Basile Boli taking the flame in front of the iconic basilica of Notre-Dame de la Garde, a day after it made a spectacular entrance by sea.

The Olympic torch will finally enter France when it reaches the southern seaport of Marseille on Wednesday. And it's already been quite a journey.

After being lit by the sun's rays on April 16 in Ancient Olympia, the torch was carried around Greece before leaving Athens aboard a three-mast ship named Belem, headed for Marseille.

Belem, the three-masted sailing ship carrying the Olympic flame to France, is being towed through the Corinth canal in Corinth, Sunday. The French sailing ship sailed from the port of Piraeus Saturday, a day after the handover ceremony from the Greek Olympic Committee to the Summer Olympics organizers, and will arrive at Marseille, France, on May 8. [Michael Varaklas/AP]

The Belem made its first voyage in 1896, just a few weeks after the first modern Olympic Games had finished in Athens.

French sailing ship Belem sets sail to Greece to collect Olympic Flame, embarking on unprecedented journey

The Olympic Flame lighting ceremony ahead of the Paris Olympic Games will take place at the ancient site of Olympia on April 16 in a public event that will be televised live around the world, according to the program announced on Thursday.

BELEM, Brazil - I write today from Brazil to inaugurate a new series of columns for Kathimerini. My columns in the months ahead will discuss the dramatic changes under way in the world economy, and how these changes affect Greece.

It has taken 227 years, but Portugal's stunning crown jewels have finally gone on display in a giant strong room inside the country's long unfinished royal palace.

The Ajuda Palace overlooking the capital's historic Belem district was home to Portugal's last royal dynasty, the Braganzas, whose reign ended when the country became a republic in 1910.

Protests against President Jair Bolsonaro spread across Brazil on July 3, a day after a Supreme Court justice authorized a criminal investigation into his response to allegations of potential corruption involving a vaccine deal.

Demonstrators gathered by the thousands in more than 40 cities to demand Bolsonaro's impeachment or greater access to vaccines against COVID-19.

At least 21 people died Tuesday in an attempted breakout from a prison in northern Brazil aided by an armed group on the outside trying to blow up a wall, officials said.