Greek actress Maria Nafpliotou, in the role of the country's ancient high priestess, holds up the urn that carries the Olympic flame on March 24, at the lighting ceremony held for the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games in ancient Olympia-home of the original games.

The torch bearing the sacred flame will travel for 130 days and cover 137,000 km worldwide.

Below: The first torchbearer, Greek taekwondo athlete Alexandros Nikolaidis, lights the torch of former Olympic champion swimmer Luo Xuejuan from China during the torch relay.