Milan/Cortina 2026 Olympic Games : the flame is lit in Olympia on 26 November
The route of the Milan/Cortina 2026 Olympic flame has finally been unveiled. From 6 December 2025 to 6 February 2026, the Olympic Flame will travel 12,000 km across Italy, passing through more than 300 municipalities, 60 towns and all 110 Italian provinces.
Lit in Olympia (Greece) on 26 November, then transmitted to Italy on 4 December in Athens (Greece), the flame will officially depart from Rome (Italy) on 6 December. Giovanni Malago, President of the Milan/Cortina 2026 Foundation, summed up the ambition for the Olympics. com website: ” A journey that weaves together the roots and the future, reminding us of the power of sport to build bridges “.
The relay will be accompanied by Coca-Cola and Eni, the main partners, and carried by a convoy almost 200 metres long, travelling at 4 km/h. Each day will end with the lighting of a cauldron in the stopover town.
Highlights included the Colosseum, the Trevi Fountain, a climb to Punta Gnifetti (4,554 m), a visit to the Marmore Falls, the Duomo in Milan, a gondola ride across the Grand Canal in Venice, and the Scampia district in Naples. The director of the ceremonies, Maria Laura Iascone, insists on “a route that celebrates creativity, courage and inclusion”.
The flame will be in Naples for Christmas, in Bari for New Year’s Eve, then back in Cortina on 26 January, 70 years after the 1956 Olympic Games. It will end its journey at San Siro on 6 February 2026, to launch the Games.
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