The Galatsi Olympic Hall is a multi-use

indoor arena An arena is a large enclosed platform, often circular or oval-shaped, designed to showcase theatre, musical performances, or sporting events. It is composed of a large open space surrounded on most or all sides by tiered seating for spectators ...

that is located in

Galatsi Galatsi ( el, Γαλάτσι, ''Galátsi'' ), called in Katharevousa Galatsion ( el, Γαλάτσιον, ''Galátsion''), is a northern suburb of Athens, Greece, and a municipality of the Attica region. The municipality has an area of 4.026 ...

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...

. It was the site of

table tennis Table tennis, also known as ping-pong and whiff-whaff, is a sport in which two or four players hit a lightweight ball, also known as the ping-pong ball, back and forth across a table using small solid rackets. It takes place on a hard table div ...

and

rhythmic gymnastics Rhythmic gymnastics is a sport in which gymnasts perform on a floor with an apparatus: hoop, ball, clubs, ribbon. The sport combines elements of gymnastics, dance and calisthenics; gymnasts must be strong, flexible, agile, dexterous and coord ...

at the

2004 Summer Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics ( el, Θερινοί Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες 2004, ), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad ( el, Αγώνες της 28ης Ολυμπιάδας, ) and also known as Athens 2004 ( el, Αθήνα 2004), ...

. The Galatsi Olympic Hall has a seating capacity of 6,200, which includes 5,141 permanent seats in the upper tier, and the removable lower tier seats.

History

The arena was completed in May 2004, and officially opened on July 30, 2004, shortly before the beginning of the

2004 Summer Olympic Games The 2004 Summer Olympics ( el, Θερινοί Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες 2004, ), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad ( el, Αγώνες της 28ης Ολυμπιάδας, ) and also known as Athens 2004 ( el, Αθήνα 2004), ...

. After the 2004 Olympics, Galatsi Olympic Hall served as the home court of the

Greek Basketball League The Greek Basket League (GBL), often also referred to as the Greek A1 Basketball League, or Greek Basketball Championship (originally called Panhellenic Basketball Championship), and also known as the Stoiximan Basket League for sponsorship reaso ...

club

AEK BC AEK Basketball Club ( el, ΚΑΕ ΑΕΚ ; Αθλητική Ένωσις Κωνσταντινουπόλεως ''Athlitikí Énosis Konstantinoupóleos'', "Athletic Union of Constantinople"), also known as AEK B.C. or AEK, and more commonly kno ...

, before the team moved to the larger

Olympic Indoor Hall The O.A.C.A. Olympic Indoor Hall (honorarily named ''Nikos Galis Olympic Indoor Hall'' since 2016), which is a part of the Olympic Athletic Center of Athens (O.A.C.A.) « Spyros Louis» ( el, O.A.K.A. «Σπύρος Λούης»), was completed ...

in 2006. The arena was then turned over to the private sector (Acropol Haragionis AE and Sonae Sierra SGPS S.A), and was used as a shopping center. In autumn of 2015, the hall was used as temporary shelter for migrants.Derelict Greek Olympic venues reopened to house migrants
/ref> In early 2016, the hall was used for the recording of The X Factor (Greece series 4). In 2017, it was used for the recording of The Voice of Greece (season 3), while it was also once again used for The X Factor (Greece series 5), as well as the for the live finale of Survivor Greece 5. In autumn 2018, Galatsi Olympic Hall was re-established as
Christmas Theater
', where various artistic and cultural events started taking place. It has the capacity of 100.000 spectators but, due to the

Sars-coV-2 Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS‑CoV‑2) is a strain of coronavirus that causes COVID-19 (coronavirus disease 2019), the respiratory illness responsible for the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The virus previously had a ...

pandemic, events ceased in spring 2020. For Christmas 2020, some events were scheduled online and in summer 2021 live events started anew.

References

External links

Galatsi Arena
@ Stadia.gr {{Olympic venues table tennis 2004 establishments in Greece 2004 Summer Paralympics venues AEK (sports club) Basketball venues in Greece Galatsi Handball venues in Greece Indoor arenas in Greece Olympic gymnastics venues Olympic table tennis venues Sports venues completed in 2004 Sports venues in Attica Venues of the 2004 Summer Olympics Volleyball venues in Greece

History

See also

References

External links