In this photo providede by the Greek Olympic Committee, Greek actress Ino Menegaki, playing the role of High Priestess, holds the Olympic flame during the torch lighting ceremony for the London 2012 Olympic Games at the site of ancient Olympia in Greece May 10, 2012. (Xinhua)

The flame for the London 2012 Olympic Games was lit on Thursday in a ritual ceremony held at Olympia, the birthplace of the Olympic Games more than 2,000 years ago.

At 12:11 a.m. local time, Greek actress Ino Menegaki acting as High Priestess kindled the sacred flame using the sun's rays and a concave mirror among the ruins of the Temple of Hera, the ancient Greek mythology goddess.

"Apollo, King of the sun, and the Idea of light, send your rays and light the sacred torch," she said in a "prayer" to the God of Sun in Greek mythology, before transporting the flame in a replica of an ancient urn to the Stadium, where the first Olympic athletes competed some 2,800 years ago.

Following a dance performance by actors in the roles of priestesses and priests, Menegaki lit the Olympic torch with the sacred flame and handed it over to the first torchbearer, Greek world swimming champion Spyros Gianniotis, as the crowed erupted in applause.

Gianniotis, born in Liverpool in 1980, who will be among the athletes competing in London this summer, then passed the Flame to Alexander Loukos, another British athlete of Greek origin, kicking off the torch relay.

The ceremony marks the start of a week-long torch relay, which will take it to five major Greek archaeological sites, including the Acropolis, before it arrives at the old Olympic stadium in Athens, site of the first modern Games in 1896.