Melina Merkouri Indoor Hall, or Rethymno Municipal Indoor Hall, is an indoor sporting arena that is located in the city of

Rethymno Rethymno ( el, Ρέθυμνο, , also ''Rethimno'', ''Rethymnon'', ''Réthymnon'', and ''Rhíthymnos'') is a city in Greece on the island of Crete. It is the capital of Rethymno regional unit, and has a population of more than 30,000 inhabitants ...

, on the

Greek island Greece has many islands, with estimates ranging from somewhere around 1,200 to 6,000, depending on the minimum size to take into account. The number of inhabited islands is variously cited as between 166 and 227. The largest Greek island by a ...

Crete Crete ( el, Κρήτη, translit=, Modern: , Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the 88th largest island in the world and the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after Sicily, Sardinia, Cyprus, ...

. The

seating capacity Seating capacity is the number of people who can be seated in a specific space, in terms of both the physical space available, and limitations set by law. Seating capacity can be used in the description of anything ranging from an automobile that ...

of the arena for

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

games is 1,600 people. The arena is owned by the municipality of Rethymno. The arena is named after the famous Greek actress and politician, Melina Mercouri.

History

The hall was opened in the year 1992. The arena has been used as the home arena of the Greek

professional A professional is a member of a profession or any person who works in a specified professional activity. The term also describes the standards of education and training that prepare members of the profession with the particular knowledge and ski ...

basketball team Rethymno Cretan Kings, of the

Greek Basket 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 ...

. In recent years, the arena's seating capacity was increased from 1,100 to 1,600. This was done because Rethymno was going to compete in the top-tier level

, for the first time, during the Greek League 2007–08 season. The final phase of the

2007 FIBA Europe Under-16 Championship The 2007 FIBA Europe Under-16 Championship was the 21st edition of the FIBA Europe Under-16 Championship. The cities of Ierapetra, Rethymno and Heraklion, in Greece, hosted the tournament. Serbia won the trophy for the first time since the dissolu ...

was held at the arena. The arena also hosted the

2017 FIBA Europe Under-20 Championship The 2017 FIBA U20 European Championship was the 20th edition of the FIBA U20 European Championship. The competition took place in three Greek cities, Chania, Rethymno and Heraklion, on the island of Crete, from 15 to 23 July 2017. Venues Partic ...

. There are currently plans to further expand the arena again, in the near future.Ζομπανάκης: "Ήμασταν κοντά στον Μπιρτς, για λίγο δεν έκλεισε" .
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References

External links

@ Stadia.gr Indoor arenas in Greece Basketball venues in Greece Volleyball venues in Greece {{Greece-sports-venue-stub