What is Palaestra?
[[File:Palestra d'Olímpia, columnes.JPG|thumb|The [[courtyard]] of the [[palaestra at Olympia]] (left) and a [[wikt:colonnade|colonnade]] (right)]] A '''palaestra''' was a building in [[ancient Greece]]. It is the place where [[Greek wrestling|wrestling]] was taught and practiced. It [[wikt:consist|consisted]] of a large square or [[rectangle|rectangular]] [[courtyard]]. This courtyard was open to the sky. It was [[wikt:surround|surrounded]] by [[wikt:colonnade|colonnade]]s. Off these colonnades were dressing rooms, lecture rooms, bath rooms, and rooms for [[wikt:store#Verb|storing]] [[wikt:equipment|equipment]]. Wrestlers practiced under the colonnades in all weathers. Palaestras were often near [[Gymnasium_(ancient_Greece)|gymnasium]]s. They were sometimes a part of gymnasium [[wikt:complex#Noun|complex]]es. Most [[city|cities]] in the Greek world had a palaestra. Large cities may have had [[wikt:several|several]]. Some palaestras were privately owned. Most were [[wikt:build#Verb|built]] with [[tax|taxes]]. The palaestra was very much a part of the everyday lives of Greek men and boys. Some men felt as much [[wikt:affection|affection]] for the palaestra they grew up in as modern men feel for their ''[[alma mater]]''. Some men were [[burial|buried]] in their [[wikt:favorite|favorite]] palaestra.<ref name=harris149>{{harvnb|Harris|1964|p=149}}</ref> == What was a palaestra? == [[File:Palestra d'Olímpia.JPG|thumb|left|A [[wikt:colonnade|colonnade]] in the [[palaestra at Olympia]]]] A palaestra was a building in ancient Greece where wrestling was taught and practiced. The word ''palaestra'' is based on the Greek word ''pale'', which means wrestling.<ref name=miller176/> From the sixth century BC through the end of the [[Roman Empire|Roman Imperial age]], palaestras were built throughout Greece.<ref name=harris102/> The earliest ones were privately owned, but by the fifth century BC public ones were being built.<ref name=poliakoff12>{{harvnb|Poliakoff|1987|p=12}}</ref> Almost every Greek city had at least one