Estádio Vasco da Gama, also known as Estádio São Januário, owing to its location on a street of the same name, is the home ground of
Club de Regatas Vasco da Gama
Club de Regatas Vasco da Gama (), commonly referred as Vasco da Gama or simply Vasco, is a professional sports club based in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Originally a rowing club, Vasco is mostly known for its football team, who it currently compet ...
. Its facade is listed by the National Historical and Artistic Heritage.
It is located in the
Vasco da Gama neighborhood,
Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a b ...
, Brazil, on a hill near the National Observatory of Brazil. Because of its position it is often referred to as Estádio da Colina (Hill's Stadium) which in turn has given Vasco the nickname of Gigante da Colina (Hill's Giant). It is one of the few Association Football specific stadiums in the world which has both team benches and coaching areas behind the goal line at the same end of the field.
The stadium had a capacity of 24,584 and it was inaugurated on April 21, 1927, with the presence of
Washington Luís
Washington Luís Pereira de Sousa (; 26 October 1869 – 4 August 1957) was a Brazilian politician who served as the 13th president of Brazil. Elected governor of São Paulo state in 1920 and president of Brazil in 1926, Washington Luís belonge ...
, Brazilian president in that time. The first event held in the stadium was a match between Vasco and Santos, which Santos won. The stadium stands as the biggest private venue in the State of Rio de Janeiro.
This stadium has also historic importance, because Brazilian president
Getúlio Vargas
Getúlio Dornelles Vargas (; 19 April 1882 – 24 August 1954) was a Brazilian lawyer and politician who served as the 14th and 17th president of Brazil, from 1930 to 1945 and from 1951 to 1954. Due to his long and controversial tenure as Brazi ...
used it many times to do deliver speeches to the Brazilian people. Vargas announced the first Brazilian work laws on the tribune of São Januário.
Vasco da Gama, owner of São Januário, is the only major football club in Rio de Janeiro to have its private stadium. Other major clubs (
Flamengo
Clube de Regatas do Flamengo (; English: ''Flamengo Rowing Club''), more commonly referred to as simply Flamengo, is a Brazilian sports club based in Rio de Janeiro, in the neighborhood of Gávea, best known for their professional football t ...
,
Fluminense
Fluminense Football Club (), known as Fluminense, is a Brazilian sports club best known for its professional football team that competes in the Campeonato Brasileiro Série A, the first tier of Brazilian football and the Campeonato Carioca, th ...
, and
Botafogo
Botafogo (local/standard alternative Brazilian Portuguese pronunciation: ) is a beachfront neighborhood (''bairro'') in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It is a mostly upper middle class and small commerce community, and is located between the hills of M ...
) rent their stadiums (Flamengo and Fluminense play at
Maracanã which is owned by the
state of Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro () is one of the 27 federative units of Brazil. It has the second largest economy of Brazil, with the largest being that of the state of São Paulo. The state, which has 8.2% of the Brazilian population, is responsible for 9.2% of ...
, while Botafogo plays at
Estádio Nilton Santos which is owned by the
city of Rio de Janeiro).
São Januário Sports Complex
Aquatics centre
The São Januario Aquatics Centre opened on August 30, 1953 and is used by the swimming school. In 1998, it held one event of the
FINA Swimming World Cup
The FINA Swimming World Cup is an international series of short course () swimming meets organized by FINA, the International Federation for swimming. Launched in 1988, the FINA Swimming World Cup gathers world-class swimmers in a series of two-da ...
.
Courts
This stadium has two courts. The first opened on September 23, 1956, and it is the main court. In 1999, this court was remodeled and its capacity increased to 2,500 seats. The second court, denominated ''forninho'' ("little oven" in
Portuguese
Portuguese may refer to:
* anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal
** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods
** Portuguese language, a Romance language
*** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language
** Portu ...
), is smaller than main and it is located behind the Aquatic park.
Chapel
A chapel, known in Portuguese as ''Capela de
Nossa Senhora das Vitórias'', is located between the stadium and the adjacent aquatic park. The project of this chapel was made by Álvaro Nascimento Rodrigues and José Ribeiro de Paiva and it was opened on August 15, 1955.
The importance of this chapel is so big that many projects to remodel the stadium was discarded just because they considered its demolition.
Trophy room
Located just after the stadium front door, the trophy room has about 8,000 trophies, cup, plates, medals and photos earnings on the whole club's history.
Largest official attendances
Source:
Derbies
Until the construction of
Maracanã, Vasco used to play the
city derbies at São Januário. After Maracanã was opened, in 1950, the derbies moved to there. Since then, though, a few of those derbies have been played at São Januário, mostly when Maracanã was undergoing refurbishing. On February 14, 2016, Vasco return to play a derby in São Januário since 2005, the match was against
Flamengo
Clube de Regatas do Flamengo (; English: ''Flamengo Rowing Club''), more commonly referred to as simply Flamengo, is a Brazilian sports club based in Rio de Janeiro, in the neighborhood of Gávea, best known for their professional football t ...
for the
Campeonato Carioca
The Campeonato Carioca (Carioca Championship), officially known as Campeonato Estadual do Rio de Janeiro (Port., Rio de Janeiro State Championship), was started in 1906 and is the annual football championship in the state of Rio de Janeiro, B ...
, with Vasco winning, 1–0.
Here is Vasco's home record against its major rivals:
2011 Military World Games
The São Januario stadium hosted some matches in the men's and women's
football tournament at the
5th CISM Military World Games
The 2011 Military World Games ( pt, Jogos Mundiais Militares de 2011), officially known as the 5th CISM Military World Games ( pt, V Jogos Mundiais Militares do CISM), was hosted from July 15–24, 2011 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
The 5th Military ...
.
See also
*
Walter Miceli
Walter Miceli of Brazil holds the world record for the longest working career as a stadium announcer. He has been the stadium announcer at the Estádio São Januário, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, home of the Club de Regatas Vasco da Gama
Club de ...
References
External links
Templos do FutebolWorld Stadiums
{{DEFAULTSORT:Estadio Sao Januario
Sao Januario
Sao Januario
Sao Januario
Football venues in Rio de Janeiro (city)
1927 establishments in Brazil
Sports venues completed in 1927