The Pankritio Stadium ( el, Παγκρήτιο Στάδιο, ''Pagkritio Stadio'', literally: ''Pancretan Stadium'') is a multi-purpose sports

stadium A stadium ( : stadiums or stadia) is a place or venue for (mostly) outdoor sports, concerts, or other events and consists of a field or stage either partly or completely surrounded by a tiered structure designed to allow spectators to stand o ...

located in

Heraklion Heraklion or Iraklion ( ; el, Ηράκλειο, , ) is the largest city and the administrative capital city, capital of the island of Crete and capital of Heraklion (regional unit), Heraklion regional unit. It is the fourth largest city in Gree ...

on the island of

Crete Crete ( el, Κρήτη, translit=, Modern: , Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the 88th largest island in the world and the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after Sicily, Sardinia, Cyprus, ...

. It was completed on 31 December 2003, and officially opened on 11 August 2004. As one of the most modern sports venues in

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders wi ...

at the time, it was used as one of the

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly ...

venues to host matches of the 2004 Summer Olympic football tournament. It has a capacity of 26,240 seats, and is currently the home ground of local association football club

Ergotelis The Gymnastics Club «Ergotelis» Heraklion Crete ( el, Γυμναστικός Σύλλογος «O Εργοτέλης» Ηρακλείου Κρήτης, Γ.Σ. Εργοτέλης), commonly known simply as Ergotelis ( el, Εργοτέλης), ...

, and on occasion, the

Greece national football team The Greece national football team ( el, Εθνική Ελλάδας, ) represents Greece in men's international football matches and is controlled by the Hellenic Football Federation, the governing body for football in Greece. Greece play most ...

Location

The Pankritio Stadium is located in

, at the Lido district to the west of the city center. It has been built about 50 meters from the island coast, and is neighbored by the

Lido Indoor Hall The Lido Indoor Hall, or simply, the Lido Hall, is a multi-purpose indoor arena that is located in the city of Heraklion, on the island of Crete, in Greece. It is named after the district where it's located, called Lido ( Greek: Λίντο). The ...

and the city's outdoor pool venue, of which the whole district is named after (Lido).

History

The stadium broke ground sometime during the late 80s, however construction work was not completed on time, and was eventually indefinitely postponed. Once

won the bid to host the

2004 Summer Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics ( el, Θερινοί Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες 2004, ), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad ( el, Αγώνες της 28ης Ολυμπιάδας, ) and also known as Athens 2004 ( el, Αθήνα 2004), ...

, construction of the stadium was finally picked up once again in 2001. It was eventually completed on 31 December 2003. The total construction cost was estimated at €50,000,000. The new stadium was officially opened on 11 August 2004, to host an international

friendly game Friendly may refer to: Places * Friendly, West Yorkshire, a settlement in Calderdale, West Yorkshire, England * Friendly, Maryland, an unincorporated community in the United States * Friendly, Eugene, Oregon, a neighborhood in the United States ...

between

and

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

. Due to its size, age and ranking, the Pankritio was selected as one of the football venues of the 2004 Summer Olympics Football Tournament, hosting in total 10 matches (5 men's Group Stage matches, 2 women's Group Stage matches, one men's Quarterfinals match, one women's Quarterfinals match and one women's Semi-Final match). After the tournament, the stadium was rented out, and has since been used as a training and home ground of the city's

club

, and occasionally also by the

. In 2006, the Pankritio hosted the 2005–06 Greek Cup Final, the first to be played in

since 1931. Although primarily considered a

stadium, the Pankritio, has also been used to host major

athletics Athletics may refer to: Sports * Sport of athletics, a collection of sporting events that involve competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking ** Track and field, a sub-category of the above sport * Athletics (physical culture), competi ...

events, such as the 2004 Tsiklitiria annual

IAAF World Challenge The IAAF World Challenge was an annual, global circuit of one-day track and field competitions organized by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF). First held in 2010, it replaced the IAAF Grand Prix and IAAF Super Grand Prix ...

meeting and the

2015 European Team Championships The sixth European Athletics Team Championships took place on 20 and 21 June 2015. Super League Place: Central Stadium, Cheboksary, Russia Participating countries * * * * * * * * * * * * * Belarus, Finland and Norway were promoted from 2014 F ...

First League. The stadium has also been used for a number of music concerts, most notably hosting

Deep Purple Deep Purple are an English rock band formed in London in 1968. They are considered to be among the pioneers of heavy metal and modern hard rock music, but their musical style has changed over the course of its existence. Originally formed as ...

and

Vasilis Papakonstantinou Vasilis Papakonstantinou (Βασίλης Παπακωνσταντίνου) (born 21 June 1950) is a Greek singer known mostly for his work in Greek rock. Most of his songs have gained considerable popularity, mainly in Greece and Cyprus. Early ...

on May 6, 2011.

Facilities

The Pankritio Stadium sports complex features in total two football grounds built to international standards (main stadium and training ground), an 8-lane track, an auxiliary 6-lane track, an indoor gym and swimming pool, multi-purpose halls for

boxing Boxing (also known as "Western boxing" or "pugilism") is a combat sport in which two people, usually wearing protective gloves and other protective equipment such as hand wraps and mouthguards, throw punches at each other for a predetermined ...

wrestling Wrestling is a series of combat sports involving grappling-type techniques such as clinch fighting, throws and takedowns, joint locks, pins and other grappling holds. Wrestling techniques have been incorporated into martial arts, combat s ...

fencing Fencing is a group of three related combat sports. The three disciplines in modern fencing are the foil, the épée, and the sabre (also ''saber''); winning points are made through the weapon's contact with an opponent. A fourth discipline, ...

dance Dance is a performing art form consisting of sequences of movement, either improvised or purposefully selected. This movement has aesthetic and often symbolic value. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoire ...

weightlifting Weightlifting generally refers to activities in which people lift weights, often in the form of dumbbells or barbells. People lift various kinds of weights for a variety of different reasons. These may include various types of competition; pro ...

shooting Shooting is the act or process of discharging a projectile from a ranged weapon (such as a gun, bow, crossbow, slingshot, or blowpipe). Even the acts of launching flame, artillery, darts, harpoons, grenades, rockets, and guided missiles ...

, and

tae kwon do ''Taekwondo'', ''Tae Kwon Do'' or ''Taekwon-Do'' (; ko, 태권도/跆拳道 ) is a Korean martial arts, Korean form of martial arts involving punching and kicking techniques, with emphasis on head-height kicks, spinning jump kicks, and fast k ...

, a rowing simulator and a physiotherapy room with sauna and hot tub. Additionally, the stadium features seminar meeting rooms, a dining room, and a showroom featuring exhibits from the

and 2011 Special Olympics. The complex is neighbored by the city's outdoor swimming pool and the

Tenants

The stadium has been used as the home ground of

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional association football, football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in Association football around the wor ...

football team

, since its opening in 2004, as their traditional home turf

Nikos Kazantzakis Stadium The «Nikos Kazantzakis» Stadium ( el, Γήπεδο «Νίκος Καζαντζάκης»), formerly known as Ergotelis Stadium and more commonly as Martinengo Stadium, is a football stadium located on the ''Martinengo'' bastion, part of the fort ...

was declared unfit for use in official matches at any level of the

Greek football league system The Greek football league system includes four levels in which teams can possibly make it to the Super League 1, Greece's highest division of football. Cup eligibility Greek Football Professional Cup: Levels 1 to 2 Greek Football Amateur Cup: ...

since 2004. Between 2006 and 2009, the stadium was also used by

' rival OFI, until their original home ground,

Theodoros Vardinogiannis Stadium Theodoros Vardinogiannis Stadium ( el, Γήπεδο Θεόδωρος Βαρδινογιάννης) is a stadium in Heraklion, Crete, Greece. It was built in 1951 (not at its present state) as the home stadium of OFI Crete. The stadium is commonly ...

, upgrade was done. On occasion, the Pankritio has also hosted home games of the

, notably attracting large numbers of spectators from all over the

island An island (or isle) is an isolated piece of habitat that is surrounded by a dramatically different habitat, such as water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, skerries, cays or keys. An isla ...

Records

The stadium attendance record and first ever sold-out event was set on 20 February 2005, in a Superleague match between

and reigning champions

Olympiacos Olympiacós Sýndesmos Filáthlon Peiraiós ( el, Ολυμπιακός Σύνδεσμος Φιλάθλων Πειραιώς, Olympic Club of Fans of Piraeus) is a major multi-sport club based in Piraeus, Greece. Olympiacos is parent to a numbe ...

with 27,950 tickets being sold. The result was a 2−1 victory for the home team.

2004 Summer Olympics

Pankritio Stadium hosted six games of the men's football tournament at the 2004 Summer Olympics, and four games of the

women's Olympic Football tournament Football at the Summer Olympics, referred to as the Olympic Football Tournament, has been included in every Summer Olympic Games as a men's competition sport, except 1896 (the inaugural Games) and 1932 (in an attempt to promote the new FIFA Wor ...

Men's tournament

Women's tournament

References

External links

Olympicproperties.gr profile
{{Olympic venues football Sports venues completed in 2003 Sports venues in Crete Football venues in Greece Venues of the 2004 Summer Olympics Olympic football venues Buildings and structures in Heraklion Multi-purpose stadiums in Greece Athletics (track and field) venues in Greece