Gliwice Arena, known for sponsorship reasons as PreZero Arena Gliwice, is a multi-purpose

indoor arena An arena is a large enclosed venue, often circular or oval-shaped, designed to showcase theatre, Music, musical performances or Sport, sporting events. It comprises a large open space surrounded on most or all sides by tiered seating for specta ...

Gliwice Gliwice (; , ) is a city in Upper Silesia, in southern Poland. The city is located in the Silesian Highlands, on the Kłodnica river (a tributary of the Oder River, Oder). It lies approximately 25 km west from Katowice, the regional capital ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

. The arena has 13,752 seats in its four stands and provides room for up to 17,178 spectators in the main arena, standing spaces included, making it one of the largest entertainment and sports halls in the country.

History

The venue was originally given the name Podium Hall (), which was later changed to Gliwice Hall (). Since opening in May 2018, the latter name has been used interchangeably with the name Gliwice Arena, which is used for international events. In July 2023, it was announced that the venue would be renamed to PreZero Arena Gliwice, as part of a sponsorship deal with

PreZero The Schwarz Group () is a German multinational retailer that operates stores under the Lidl and Kaufland brands. With revenues of €167.2 billion in fiscal year 2023, Schwarz Group is the largest European retailer and the fourth-largest retai ...

. The construction of the hall began in 2013 following the demolition of the . Initially, the city had been anticipating financial support from the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

, however such funding was refused; it was then decided that the construction would instead be financed from the city's budget alone. The construction was originally planned to be completed in mid-2015 and cost 321 million złoty. According to the report on the implementation of the Gliwice city budget for 2017, the total outlays for the implementation of the investment in 2017-2018 amounted to 420.4 million złoty, 31% above the originally anticipated amount. Gliwice Arena has a two-level car park, the upper level of which can be adapted to organise events and outdoor exhibitions. The car park has 800 spaces. The facility is adapted to the needs of people with disabilities. There are 72 places available for them (36 places for wheelchair users and 36 for accompanying persons), located in all sectors and locations that guarantee good visibility. A training hall and a fitness building, which are also part of the Gliwice Arena complex, are located adjacent to the main arena. The highest climbing wall in Europe and stage suspension system were also installed in the building.

Events

The first event that took place in the arena was a women's run as part of the , a race which was part of an event organised for the fight against breast cancer, held on 6 May 2018. The official opening was organised on 12 and 13 May 2018, and on 30 May 2018, the concert of Armin van Buuren took place. Eurowizja Junior 2019 - scena

On 6 March 2019, the

European Broadcasting Union The European Broadcasting Union (EBU; , UER) is an alliance of Public broadcasting, public service media organisations in countries within the European Broadcasting Area (EBA) or who are member states of the Council of Europe, members of the ...

(EBU) and Polish broadcaster

Telewizja Polska Telewizja Polska S.A. (; TVP), also known in English as Polish Television, is a Public broadcasting, public service broadcaster in Poland, founded in 1952. It is the oldest and largest Polish television network. After 2015, when the right-wing po ...

(TVP) announced that the arena would host the

Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2019 The Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2019 was the seventeenth edition of the Junior Eurovision Song Contest, organised by Telewizja Polska (TVP) and the European Broadcasting Union (EBU). It was held on 24 November 2019, at the Gliwice Arena in Gl ...

. It took place on 24 November 2019, and marked the first time that Poland had hosted the event. Poland won the contest on home soil with

Viki Gabor Wiktoria "Viki" Gabor (born 10 July 2007) is a Polish singer. She began her career in 2019, as a runner-up on the The Voice Kids (Polish series 2), second season of ''The Voice Kids (Polish TV series), The Voice Kids Poland'', and then later won ...

and the song "

Superhero A superhero or superheroine is a fictional character who typically possesses ''superpowers'' or abilities beyond those of ordinary people, is frequently costumed concealing their identity, and fits the role of the hero, typically using their ...

", which marked the first back-to-back win in the contest's history. This venue hosted the

2022 FIVB Volleyball Men's World Championship The 2022 FIVB Men's Volleyball World Championship was the 20th staging of the FIVB Men's Volleyball World Championship, contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of the ' (FIVB), the sport's global governing body. The tournament ...

and

2022 FIVB Volleyball Women's World Championship The 2022 FIVB Women's Volleyball World Championship was the 19th staging of the FIVB Women's Volleyball World Championship, contested by the senior women's national teams of the members of the (FIVB). The Netherlands and Poland were dual hosts f ...

knockout phase.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Gliwice Arena Indoor arenas in Poland Buildings and structures in Gliwice Sport in Gliwice Handball venues in Poland Sports venues completed in 2018 Sports venues in Silesian Voivodeship

History

Events

See also

References

External links