Žalgiris Stadium () was a

multi-purpose stadium A multi-purpose stadium is a type of stadium designed to be easily used for multiple types of events. While any stadium could potentially host more than one type of sport or event, this concept usually refers to a design philosophy that stres ...

in Žirmūnai elderate of

Vilnius Vilnius ( , ) is the capital of and List of cities in Lithuania#Cities, largest city in Lithuania and the List of cities in the Baltic states by population, most-populous city in the Baltic states. The city's estimated January 2025 population w ...

Lithuania Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, P ...

. The stadium held 15,029 and was the largest in Lithuania until its demolition. It had been built on the desecrated graves of Jews interred in the Old Jewish Cemetery under the stadium. It was named after the

Battle of Grunwald The Battle of Grunwald was fought on 15 July 1410 during the Polish–Lithuanian–Teutonic War. The alliance of the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, led respectively by King Władysław II Jagiełło (Jogaila), a ...

and was rebuilt by the German POWs after

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

and finished in 1950 (the stadium existed already before World War II and was used by Pogoń Wilno; in 1936 the Polish athletics championships were held at the stadium). After independence it was used by the

Lithuania national football team The Lithuania national football team () represents Lithuania in men's international Association football, football, and is controlled by the Lithuanian Football Federation, the governing body for football in Lithuania. They played their first m ...

, but later it lost its meaning as the national stadium and all the international

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

matches were played either at Darius and Girėnas Stadium in

Kaunas Kaunas (; ) is the second-largest city in Lithuania after Vilnius, the fourth largest List of cities in the Baltic states by population, city in the Baltic States and an important centre of Lithuanian economic, academic, and cultural life. Kaun ...

or at the renovated LFF Stadium in Vilnius. In 2015, the stadium was sold to Lithuanian real estate company Hanner who planned to demolish it and make way for apartments, hotel and offices. The demolition of Žalgiris stadium was started on 5 July 2016.

In popular culture

In 2010, Žalgiris Stadium was used by the BBC to film the television film United, depicting the Munich air disaster, as the location double of the Stadium JNA, where the quarterfinal game of 1957–58 European Cup was played.

References

External links

Žalgirio stadionas
{{DEFAULTSORT:Zalgiris Stadium Former buildings and structures in Lithuania Athletics (track and field) venues in Lithuania Demolished buildings and structures in Lithuania Football venues in Lithuania

Multi-purpose stadiums in Lithuania Sports venues completed in 1950 Sports venues demolished in 2016 Sports venues in Vilnius FK Žalgiris