Football controversies aside, we have to admit that a mere football stadium can also be a beautiful and imposing work of architecture that deserves to be seen.
Many two current Portuguese stadiums have been built or rebuilt at the height of EURO 2004 and they have cost many thousands of euros. Discover the 5 most beautiful stadiums in Portugal.
1. Dragao Stadium
By force of modernity around the imperative or patrimonial enrichment of FC Porto, providing a modern, functional, more comfortable and better adjusted stadium to the demands of football at the highest level and the indissociable excellence of the player’s history.
The realization of Euro 2004 provided the change of the Estádio das Antas eo Dragão, a work by the architect Manuel Salgado, born, located a little below daquele, with respect to the past and pride not present, replaced as a blue and white box of distinction.
O Dragão has capacity for 50,092 spectators and is endowed with unique valences that, enriched by the placement of green spaces and by the restructuring of the roads attached to the sports, residential and commercial complex, materialize a new centrality in Porto. O Dragão affirms itself as a sporting and cultural point of reference for the city and the region.
The inaugural ceremony took place on November 16, 2003, having as the greatest moment or particular meeting between FC Porto and the guest of honor FC Barcelona, which ended with victory blue and white by 2-0. Subsequently, the Estádio do Dragão hosted the opening game of Euro 2004, discussed between the selections of Portugal and Greece, and was the stage of the dazzling goalkeeper’s journey towards the conquest of Europe, in the 2003/04 season.
2. Light Stadium
The new Estádio da Luz was inaugurated on October 25, 2003, a friendly game against the Uruguayan team of Nacional that Sport Lisboa and Benfica won with a result of 2-1, with Nuno Gomes bisar.
Not the scope of the Euro 2004 was demolished or the old Estádio da Luz and this new stadium was built in an adjacent place, having been, inclusively, the final stage of the competition.
The author of the project of the new stadium is the Australian company Populous, in the same way as the project of the Sydney Olympic Stadium in Australia or the new stadium of the Algarve in Portugal.
As of November 9, 2009, the ultrapassou stadium reached two 6 thousand spectators.
On the tenth anniversary of the new Estádio da Luz, on October 25, 2013, it passed the mark of two 11 thousand spectators.
3. Braga Stadium
EITHER Municipal Stadium of Bragaknown by Pedreira Stadium it affirms itself as a greater value for the council, valuing the city and the region. Projected by the Portuguese architect Eduardo Souto Moura (Pritzker Prize 2011) and by the Portuguese engineer Rui Furtado (from the afaconsult company), it is a work of particular beauty, as a piece of architecture and invulgar engineering “a great work of art”, which we see giving corpo ao Parque Urbano implanted in the encosta do Monte Castro, on the outskirts of the urban area of Braga turned towards the valley of the Rio Cávado. The stadium is currently used by Sporting Clube de Braga.
It is a project of innovative architectural lines, owned by a stadium with 30,000 seats and only two lateral benches, since the tops of the stadium are constituted by rock amphitheater on the encosta do monte.
The coverage assumes as a reference “the bridges built by the Inca civilization”, not Peru, in order to illuminate the area with natural light, while also preserving the natural quality of the area. It should be noted that this work was contemplated as the Secil Award in 2004 (Architecture Category), and in 2005 (Civil Engineering Category), an award that distinguishes two in two even years and two in two odd years as the most significant works of Architecture and Engineering carried out in this period.
The stadium was, for several times, considered one of the most original and beautiful stadiums in the world. The Financial Times journal, an article on British stadiums, refers to the Stadium as two 4 examples of “beautiful grounds”.
4. Algarve Stadium
EITHER Algarve Stadiumin Loulé/Faro, was built for the European Football Championship, or “Euro 2004”, and has a total capacity of 30,305 seats.
O Sporting Clube Farense eo Louletano Desportos Clube são the resident clubs, being that currently nenhuma das duas or used as “home”. In the periods of 2006/2007 and 2010/2011, Portimonense also returned to his home since the works were not completed at the Municipal Stadium of Portimão, and in 2013/2014 it was the time of Olhanense that due to the poor state of the construction of the José Stadium Arcanjo was forced to play the homemade games of his team here.
It had been inaugurated on November 23, 2003, it will have its first official match on January 1, 2004 and will be played in friendly matches with the teams of Sporting Clube Farense and Louletano Desportos Clube.
The authorship of the project is the Australian company HOK S+V+E, at the same time as the Sydney Olympic Stadium in Australia or the new Light Stadium in Portugal.
5. Alvalade Stadium
Alvalade XXI It is the current name of the complex where it is found or new Jose Alvalade Stadium, belonging to the Sporting Clube de Portugal, inaugurated on August 6, 2003. Inauguration is sponsored by the English club Manchester United, a game that ended 3-1, with the victory of Sporting CP. Neste jogo, manifestou-se vontade do United to hire Cristiano Ronaldo, then 18 years old, from Sporting.
This stadium has 50,095 seats, all seated and covered, and also has 1,315 parking spaces, two of which are 30 reserved for people with motor disabilities. It was designed by the architect Tomás Taveira.
Além having been the stage for important games of Euro 2004, it also received the final of the 2004/05 UEFA Cup. It was the first stadium in Portugal to receive the “5-star” distinction by UEFA, with Portugal-Holland counting for Euro 2004.
For the stadium, which costs about 121 million euros, the Alvalade XXI complex includes the Alvaláxia Shopping Center, or Multisports Center, or Holmes Place, the CUF Clinic, or the Visconde de Alvalade Building, where its headquarters are located. Not total, or complex Alvalade XXI custou quase 162 milhões de euros.
