Olympic Stadium in Barcelona: description, photo

Olympic Stadium (Estadi Olimpic) Montjuic is a multi-sport stadium in Barcelona, the main sports arena of the 1992 Olympics. Although his name he received long before that, back in 1936. Civil war prevented the holding of the Olympic Games, but the name of the stadium justified itself later after more than half a century. FC Barcelona has never played here, but Espanol played in this stadium for more than 10 years, completing their performances at the Olympic only in 2009. Now the old football team of Barcelona is playing Cornella-El Prat.

Dossier

The full name is the Olympic Stadium named after Lewis Kompanis. The date of opening is 1927. The author of the project is Per Domenech. Capacity - 55900 spectators. The location of the stands is 2 tiers. The form of the arena is oval. There are treadmills (in the amount of 10 pieces of 400 m). The area of the arena is 17,000 square meters. Home teams - football teams of Spain, Catalonia and Andorra. The size of the field is 105x67 meters. Coverage - herbal. Location - Montjuic hill (south-western part of the city). Category - 5 stars (qualification of UEFA).

A bit of history

The Olympic Stadium (Barcelona) was designed and opened in 1927. It is named for the president of Catalonia, who ruled during the Spanish Civil War. In 1936, the arena was supposed to host the Games of the People's Olympics as an alternative to the Berlin Summer Olympics-1936. But, in connection with the outbreak of civil war, this event did not take place, and the name of the stadium "Olympic" and remained. And only since 1992, when the Olympics-1992 was held in Barcelona, the name of the arena fully corresponded to the status.

Arena in the period 50-90-ies

In the 50s the Barcelona stadium was the place where the Mediterranean games were held. In the 60's and 70's the arena fell into decay. It was unnecessary and gradually destroyed. The construction got a new life thanks to the 1992 Olympic Games. The arena was completely reconstructed. And although the capacity of the stadium has decreased, it retained the original original facades.

The Barcelona Stadium witnessed the ceremonial opening and closing of the 1992 Olympic Games.

During the Olympics, he became one of the places of athletics competitions. Here it is worth noting that before the games a set of work was carried out to increase seating seats. As a result of the reconstruction, their number was brought to seventy thousand.

Olympic Stadium today

Currently, the Barcelona stadium is the place where a variety of competitions are held. In addition to football matches, here there are competitions of police and firemen, concerts of the most popular world pop stars are performed. At different times the stadium of Barcelona collected forty-thousand audience at concerts of "Rolling Stones" and "Bon Jovi".

By the way, from 1997 to 2009 the arena was the venue for home football matches of the club "Espanyol". Today, the Olympic Stadium is part of a whole complex of sports facilities, commonly known as the Olympic Ring. This includes, in particular, the Museum of the Olympic Games and Sports, souvenir shops.

And yet the "Olympic" (the photo of the Barcelona stadium are presented in the article) is unlikely to be compared to the modern stadium "Camp Nou", attracting tourists from all over the world.

Arena "Camp Nou"

Sometimes unsophisticated football fans, or even just tourists, confuse the stadium of Barcelona Estadi Olimpic with the grandiose arena Camp Nou. This football stadium in Barcelona was built in 1957 and has since been the property of the Catalan football club Barcelona. On the eve of the World Cup in 1982 the capacity of the arena reached 120 thousand people. It turned into one of the largest stadiums in the world. And only since 1998, after the introduction of UEFA regulations on equipping all sports facilities with individual seats, the capacity of the "Camp Nou" has become 98 thousand 930 spectators.

Let's note that unlike free-of-charge visit of "Olympic", on stadium FC "Barcelona" free of charge will not start up. Those wishing to explore its sights (club museum, mixed zone, interactive hall) this will result in 20 euros.

New stadium

Recently there was information that the Spanish football grand is going to build the club stadium "Barcelona" in 2017 with the former name "Camp Nou". It will be an arena capable of accommodating 105 thousand fans. The initial cost of the project is about 400 million euros. The new stadium of Barcelona will be part of the whole sports complex, which will include two more football stadiums. Their capacity is 2,000 and 12,000 spectators. Work on the construction of a new site should be completed by 2021.

A bit about tourism

But back to the stadium "Olympic". As mentioned above, it is located on the hill (hill) of Montjuic. In translation from the Spanish Montguic - "Jewish mountain". Once there was a Jewish ancient city cemetery. In ancient times, the hill was a strategic military facility, from which a magnificent view of the sea. On the other hand, here is a good overview of most of the city itself.

In 1929, Barcelona hosted the International Exhibition, in connection with which several monumental objects were built on the hill. Later, new places of culture were created (with the aim of attracting tourists and tourists), sport facilities, amusement parks were built.

In the area of Montjuic there are green areas, including both small parks, and the famous park "Jardins Joan Brossa", Botanical Garden (Cactus Park). Entrance to the park is free.

The main attractions of Mount Montjuic are:

• Museum of Barcelona named after H.A. Samarancha - the place of sports achievements and popularization of sports;
• Telecommunications tower - a symbol of the park, an architectural structure depicting an athlete holding an Olympic torch ;
• The palace of Sant Jordi is a masterpiece of architecture and the embodiment of greatness, a place for concerts, exhibitions, conferences.

The main attraction of the hill is the Olympic Stadium named after Lewis Kompanis, whose entrance is guarded by two equestrian statues made of bronze. These and other sculptures were made by sculptor Pau Gargalho.

In general, the infrastructure of the Barcelona Olympic Park is ideally designed for a romantic and active pastime. Here in the presence of a sun terrace, a large screen, cabinets of cosmetology and massage, swimming pools, cafeterias.

How to get there?

The Olympic Stadium in Barcelona is a work of the highest architectural art. Therefore, thousands of tourists visit the territory of Montjuic, in order not to lastly see this majestic structure. And what is the best way to get here? There are three convenient ways:

• From the nearest metro station Espanya (green branch L3) go to the final destination "Olympic Park". Next, you need to walk a little. Go along the street Reina Maria Christina to the fountain, then turn (left) to Rius I Taulet, then go right to Guardia Urban past the Museum of Arts and the J. Miro Foundation. Landmarks of the Olympiad-92 place will be points of stops of buses Nos. 13, 50, 150.
• The second way is a trip by cable car to the station Park de Montguic. The funicular is covered by a ticket similar to travel in another public transport: bus, subway.
• Bus "Bus Turistic" (Bus Turistic) to the stop, which is next to the stadium "Olympic".

In conclusion, a few words about the hotels located next to the stadium. This information will not be superfluous for tourists.

• Hotel AG Apartments is a hotel offering free Wi-Fi, air conditioning, heating, TV, bathroom, balcony, lift. Fresh clean linen included in the price is always available here.
• Apartamento Gran Via Fira Montguic is a hotel where you can enjoy a fully equipped kitchen, microwave oven, dishwasher, a room with a shower, a balcony overlooking Montjuic.
• Alcam Molino - apartments located two kilometers from the Castle of Montjuic. There are double rooms, TV with Internet connection, air conditioning. Nearby is the metro station Paral.