Stadio Olimpico
Stadio Olimpico (English: Olympic Stadium) is an Italian multi-purpose sports venue located in Rome. It is the largest sports facility of the city and the second-largest of Italy – after Milan's Meazza Stadium – seating more than 70,600 spectators. In the past it used to host up to one hundred thousand people and for this reason was also called Stadio dei Centomila (Stadium of the 100,000). It is also called colloquially l'Olimpico (The Olympic) and is owned by Sport e Salute, a government agency for the management of sports venues, whereas its operator is the Italian National Olympic Committee.
Stadio Olimpico | |
The Olimpico | |
| Former names | Stadio dei Cipressi (1928–53) Stadio dei Centomila (1953–60) |
|---|---|
| Address | Viale dello Stadio Olimpico Rome Italy |
| Coordinates | 41°56′02″N 12°27′17″E |
| Elevation | 21 m (69 ft) |
| Public transit | ATAC tram line 2; bus lines 32, 69, 168, 188, 280, 301, 446, 628 |
| Owner | Sport e Salute (CONI) |
| Operator | Italian National Olympic Committee |
| Type | Stadium |
| Genre(s) | sporting events |
| Capacity | 70,634 |
| Record attendance | 78,886 (12 May 1974, Lazio – Foggia 1-0) |
| Field size | 105 × 68 m |
| Field shape | Rectangular |
| Surface | Grass |
| Scoreboard | 2, atop of Northern and Southern stands |
| Current use | Association football venue Athletics venue Rugby union venue Concert venue |
| Construction | |
| Broke ground | 1928 |
| Built | 1928-53 |
| Opened | 17 May 1953 |
| Renovated | 1988–90, 2007–08 |
| Construction cost | 3,400,000,000 ITL (1953) 233,000,000,000 ITL (1988-90) 17,000,000 € (2007–08) |
| Architect | E. Del Debbio (1928) L. Moretti (1933–37) C. Valle (1951) A. Vitellozzi (1951–53, 1988–90) M. Clerici (1988–90) |
| Builder | Speroni (1928) |
| Structural engineer | A. Frisa, A. Pintonello (1927) C. Roccatelli (1951–53) P. Teresi, A.M. Michetti, M. Majowiecki (1988–90) |
| General contractor | Co.Ge.Far. (1988–90) |
| Tenants | |
| 1953–present 1953–present 1953–present 1954–present | |
| Website | |
| Stadio Olimpico Tour | |
The Olimpico stands in the northwestern sector of the city in the architectural complex known as Foro Italico, built since 1928 by Enrico Del Debbio and expanded in 1937 by Luigi Moretti. The Second World War interrupted further extensions; after the Liberation of Rome in June 1944, the stadium was used by the Allies as vehicle storage and also as seat of Anglo-American military competitions. After the war, the Italian National Olympic Committee (CONI), appointee operator of the venue, completed the building of the stadium, which was officially opened on 17 May 1953 with an international football game between Italy and Hungary. Ever since its opening the stadium is the venue of the city's two principal professional football clubs, S.S. Lazio and A.S. Roma. It switched its name to Olimpico once Rome was handed in 1955 the organization of the 17th Summer Olympics to take place in 1960. Before 1990 the venue was almost entirely unroofed except for the Monte Mario Grandstand (Italian: Tribuna Monte Mario); in 1990 the Olimpico was rebuilt for the 1990 FIFA World Cup and completely roofed.
With regard to international association football, the Olimpico was amongst the venues which hosted the 1968 and 1980 European Championships and the 1990 FIFA World Cup and where the final of the said tournaments took place, plus the matches a group and one of the quarter-finals of the 2020 European Championship. As for club football, instead, the venue hosted two finals of the European Cup, in 1977 and 1984, and two of the renewed UEFA Champions' League in 1996 and 2009. Since 2008 the Olimpico regularly hosts the Coppa Italia final with the exception of 2020. With regard to other sports, the Olimpico hosted the opening and closing ceremonies of the aforementioned 1960 Olympics together with its track-and-field events, the 1974 European Athletics Championships, the 1987 World Championships in Athletics and the 1975 Universiade. In 2024 it will host the European Athletics Championships for the second time. Since 1980 is a regular host of the Golden Gala and, since 2012, is the usual home venue of the Italian rugby union team in the Six Nations championship.
After its 1990 renewal the stadium is also a concert venue: the record attendance for a single musical event was set in 1998 when 90,000 spectators (of whom 82,000 paying audience) attended a concert of Claudio Baglioni.