Stadionul Național (; "The National 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 ...

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ) is the capital and largest city of Romania. The metropolis stands on the River Dâmbovița (river), Dâmbovița in south-eastern Romania. Its population is officially estimated at 1.76 million residents within a greater Buc ...

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

. The stadium held 60,120 people.

History

It was built in 1953, for the 4th World Festival of Youth and Students. According to the book ''București'' published in 1968 by Institutul Proiect București, ''Complexul Sportiv August 23'' was designed by the well known architect Vily Juster. It was first known as Stadionul August 23, and later on as Stadionul Național. The sports complex that included Național Stadium, is named

Lia Manoliu Lia Manoliu (; 25 April 1932 – 9 January 1998) was a Romanian discus thrower who won one gold and two bronze Olympic medals. She was the first track and field athlete to compete at six Olympics (1952–1972). Early life; sports and educat ...

(1932–1998) after the famous Romanian athlete. It was used mostly for

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. It hosted numerous concerts after the 1989 Revolution, including

Michael Jackson Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and philanthropist. Dubbed the "King of Pop", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Michael Jackson, one of the most culturally significan ...

Dangerous World Tour The ''Dangerous'' World Tour was the second world concert tour by American singer Michael Jackson and was staged to promote his eighth studio album '' Dangerous.'' The tour was sponsored by Pepsi-Cola. All profits were donated to various chari ...

concert on October 1, 1992 90,000 Public, as well as the

HIStory World Tour The ''HIS''tory World Tour was the third and final worldwide solo concert tour by American singer and songwriter Michael Jackson, covering Europe, Asia, Oceania, Africa and North America. The tour included a total of 82 concerts spanning the gl ...

concert on September 14, 1996. 70,000 public In October 2005, it was decided to rebuild the stadium completely; however, initially no funding was found, so some repairs proceeded in lieu of rebuilding. Later, funds became available and the rebuilding is expected to begin in November 2007. The plan calls for completion of a new five-star arena by April 2010. The last football match played was a 6–1 win against

Albania Albania ( ; or ), officially the Republic of Albania (), is a country in Southeast Europe. It is located in the Balkans, on the Adriatic Sea, Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea, and shares land borders with Montenegro to ...

on November 21, 2007. After the match, a few seats were removed from the stadium, as a symbolic start of the rebuilding operations. The stadium has subsequently been demolished to make room for a new one.

Attendance

List of matches of

Romania national football team The Romania national football team () represents Romania in men's international Association football, football, and is administered by the Romanian Football Federation (), also known as FRF. They are colloquially known as ''Tricolorii'' ("the T ...

on National Stadium (former August 23), with more than 50,000 persons.

References

External links

Cum s-a născut Stadionul "23 august"

* [http://adevarul.ro/news/bucuresti/galerie-foto-national-arena-victorie-capitalista-vezi-fost-cei-facut-groapa-vergului-cel-mai-mare-stadion-tarii-1_50bdebd57c42d5a663d002ec/index.html Vezi cine au fost cei care au făcut din Groapa Vergului "cel mai mare stadion al ţării"] {{Authority control FCSB Defunct football venues in Romania Demolished buildings and structures in Bucharest Multi-purpose stadiums in Romania Sports venues completed in 1953 1953 establishments in Romania Sports venues demolished in 2008