palaestra
- noun
- /pəˈleɪstrə/
- Archaic
:
palestra
- The labyrinth culminates in a half circle abutting the marble lintel of the central door on the opposite side, which opens into the palaestra.
Examples
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In ancient Greece, the palaestra served as a public training ground for wrestlers and athletes.
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Hercules was also shown employing the poses and holds commonly used in the palaestra in epic wrestling matches against Antaeus, Achelous, Triton, and even the Nemean lion.
Academic text (2011) -
The Great East Baths, Mactar: Path to the Palaestra
Academic text (2011) -
Adjacent to each palaestra is a semicircular exedra.
Academic text (2011) -
Gilbert-Charles Picard believes that matches held in the great palaestra of Mactar were organized by notables and fought by professionals.
Academic text (2011) -
The labyrinth, location of an epic wrestling match involving the hero credited with laying down the rules of the sport, was just as fitting an adornment for a bath as a relief of Hercules, god of the palaestra.
Academic text (2011) -
One more step from the center of the Mactar labyrinth—in fact, the inevitable next step forward—puts the viewer on the threshold of the palaestra.
Academic text (2011) -
Although this finding is in contrast to coaches affiliated with Special Olympics who cite reasons of person (individual with mental retardation) rather than sport for coaching (Palaestra, 1990), it exemplifies perceived philosophical differences found currently among the disabled sport organizations.
Academic text (1991) -
Labyrinth mosaic and palaestra, in the Great East Baths, Mactar, Tunisia, dedicated 199 CE (artwork in the public domain; photograph by the author).
Academic text (2011) -
* Threshold of the palaestra, with the culmination of the labyrinth mosaic, Great East Baths, Mactar, Tunisia (artwork in the public domain; photograph by the author)
Academic text (2011)
Synonyms
1
9.9
A public place in ancient Greece or Rome where people train for sports like wrestling
How Athletic
Surface Forms
Etymology
Palaestra comes from the Greek root palē meaning 'wrestling'. It was the ancient 'gym' where people trained wrestlers and other athletes, so palaestra means a place for athletic training.