Palau Sant Jordi (, en, St. George's Palace) is an indoor sporting arena and multi-purpose installation that is part of the Olympic Ring complex located in

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 , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = '' Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , ...

. Designed by the Japanese architect

Arata Isozaki Arata Isozaki (磯崎新, ''Isozaki Arata''; born 23 July 1931) is a Japanese architect, urban designer, and theorist from Ōita. He was awarded the RIBA Gold Medal in 1986 and the Pritzker Architecture Prize in 2019. Biography Isozaki was ...

, it was opened in 1990. The maximum

seating capacity Seating capacity is the number of people who can be seated in a specific space, in terms of both the physical space available, and limitations set by law. Seating capacity can be used in the description of anything ranging from an automobile tha ...

of the arena is 17,960. It is the largest indoor arena in Spain. The Palau Sant Jordi was one of the main venues of 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 ...

hosting the

artistic gymnastics Artistic gymnastics is a discipline of gymnastics in which athletes perform short routines on different apparatuses. The sport is governed by the Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique (FIG), which designs the Code of Points and regulates ...

, handball final, and volleyball final events. Today, it is used for a variety of indoor sport events as well as for concerts and other cultural activities, due to its great flexibility.

Sporting events

El Palau Sant Jordi durant la Festa dels Súpers 2015 P1520364

The arena was the venue of the 1995 IAAF World Indoor Championships in Athletics. It was the venue of three EuroLeague Final Fours in

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently s ...

2003 File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during reentry into Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an epidemic in China, and was a precursor to SARS-CoV-2; A ...

, and

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrates ...

. It also hosted the EuroBasket 1997, from the quarterfinals on, and the 2012 Copa del Rey. The final of

2000 Davis Cup The 2000 Davis Cup (also known as the 2000 Davis Cup by NEC for sponsorship purposes) was the 89th edition of the Davis Cup, the most important tournament between national teams in men's tennis. 135 teams entered the competition, 16 in the World ...

was the 89th edition of the most important tournament between nations in men's tennis.

defeated

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. With an area of , Australia is the largest country by ...

at Palau Sant Jordi on 8–10 December, giving Spain their first title. The arena also hosted the finals of 2009 Davis Cup between

and

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...

with the victory for the Spaniards 5–0. Palau Sant Jordi was the main venue of the

2003 FINA World Championships The 10th FINA World Aquatics Championships were held July 12–27, 2003 in Barcelona, Spain. The championships featured competition in all 5 of FINA's disciplines: Swimming, Diving, Synchronised swimming, Water Polo, and Open Water Swimming. C ...

. A temporary, regulation swimming pool was installed for the occasion. It played the same role for the 2013 FINA World Championships, since the city of Barcelona hosted the Championships again after 10 years. It was one of six sites that hosted the

2013 World Men's Handball Championship The 2013 World Men's Handball Championship was the 23rd World Men's Handball Championship, an international handball tournament that took place in Spain from 11 to 27 January 2013. This was the first time Spain hosted the World Men's Handball Ch ...

including the final. It was also one of six sites to host the

2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup The 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup was the 17th edition of the FIBA Basketball World Cup, the tournament previously known as the FIBA World Championship. Hosted by Spain, it was the last tournament to be held on the then-current four-year cycle ...

in Spain. On 5 October 2016, the arena hosted an NBA preseason game between the

Oklahoma City Thunder The Oklahoma City Thunder are an American professional basketball team based in Oklahoma City. The Thunder compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference Northwest Division. The team plays i ...

and local team FC Barcelona Regal. It will host matches for the 2028 European Men's Handball Championship.

Sant Jordi Club

The 3,000-seat Sant Jordi Club opened in 2007 and is located behind the main building.

Concerts

Notes

References

External links