GIMNASIO
(from the Greek “gumnos”, “naked”).
Physical exercise place. They were official institutions in which young people, naked (hence their name), learned various sports disciplines.
One was built in Jerusalem during the time of the high priest Jason, despite opposition from Jewish religious circles (cf. 1 Mac. 1:12-16).
This practice led to the introduction of other pagan customs among the Jews, leading to the Maccabean reaction to apostasy.
The New Testament shows the negligible importance of physical exercise compared to exercise in piety (1 Tim. 4:8), useful for everything.