The Palau dels Esports de Barcelona (Barcelona Sports Palace) is a multi-purpose

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 spectator ...

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

Catalonia Catalonia (; ca, Catalunya ; Aranese Occitan: ''Catalonha'' ; es, Cataluña ) is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a '' nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy. Most of the territory (except the Val d'Aran) lies on the no ...

, Spain. It is on Lleida Street on the slopes of Montjuïc, a hill to the south east of the city centre. The arena is able to host competitions of any indoor sport. In 2000 it was adapted to better accommodate theatre and musical shows and given a new name: Barcelona Teatre Musical. The seating capacity was reduced from 8,000 to 3,500, but comfort and the acoustic quality were enhanced.

History

Inaugurated in 1955 for the

Mediterranean Games The Mediterranean Games is a multi-sport event organised by the International Committee of Mediterranean Games (CIJM). It is held every four years among athletes from countries bordering the Mediterranean Sea in Africa, Asia and Europe. The ...

, it was designed by the architect Josep Soteras. It was the only indoor arena of its type in Barcelona until 1971 when

FC Barcelona Futbol Club Barcelona (), commonly referred to as Barcelona and colloquially known as Barça (), is a professional football club based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top flight of Spanish football. Found ...

inaugurated the Palau Blaugrana. Even after this, the Palau dels Esports continued to be the only indoor arena in public hands: for this reason it continued to host the main sporting, social, cultural and musical events that took place in the city. During the 1980s it was the home of the RCD Espanyol basketball team, which for several seasons competed in the ACB. It was remodelled in 1986 by the architect Francesc Labastida for the group E games of the World Basketball Championship of 1986. At the beginning of the 1990s activity in the arena began to diminish. The basketball team disappeared and in 1990 the Palau Sant Jordi was inaugurated, attracting many of the top events from that date on. The venue hosted

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 ...

and the preliminary phase of the

volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Sum ...

for the

1992 Summer Olympics The 1992 Summer Olympics ( es, Juegos Olímpicos de Verano de 1992, ca, Jocs Olímpics d'estiu de 1992), officially known as the Games of the XXV Olympiad ( es, Juegos de la XXV Olimpiada, ca, Jocs de la XXV Olimpíada) and commonly known as ...

. This proved to be its sporting swansong, however, and from the mid-1990s it concentrated on hosting drama, music and comedy.

Notable sporting events

*1955:

*1969: European champions cup final in which

CSKA Moscow CSKA Moscow (russian: ЦСКА Москва) is a Russian sports club based in Moscow. It was created in 1911 in the Russian Empire on base of OLLS (Skiing Society, founded 1901). Later, during the Soviet era, it was a central piece of the big So ...

defeated

Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (, meaning ''Royal Madrid Football Club''), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid. Founded in 1902 as Madrid Football Club, the club has traditionally wor ...

103-99 after two overtime periods in front of a 9,000 sellout crowd1969 - ЦСКА обладатель Кубка Европейских Чемпионов по баскетболу
/ref>
/ref> *1973:

European Basketball Championship EuroBasket, also commonly referred to as the European Basketball Championship, is the main international basketball competition that is contested quadrennially, by the senior men's national teams that are governed by FIBA Europe, which is the E ...

Final phase *1986: World Basketball Championship semi final round, Group E *1992:

References

External links

Info from bcn.esInfo from agendabcn.com

Location on Google Maps
{{Authority control Sports venues completed in 1955 Indoor arenas in Catalonia Venues of the 1992 Summer Olympics Olympic gymnastics venues Olympic volleyball venues Defunct basketball venues Sports venues in Barcelona Volleyball venues in Spain Basketball venues in Spain Boxing venues in Spain Taekwondo venues 1955 establishments in Spain