Olympic Palace ( ka, ოლიმპიური სასახლე, tr) is an indoor sports arena situated in

Tbilisi Tbilisi ( ; ka, თბილისი, ), in some languages still known by its pre-1936 name Tiflis ( ), ( ka, ტფილისი, tr ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Georgia (country), largest city of Georgia ( ...

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

, which was built to be used as one of the venues for the

2015 European Youth Summer Olympic Festival The 2015 European Youth Summer Olympic Festival was held in Tbilisi, Georgia, between 26 July and 1 August 2015. Sports Venues Schedule The competition schedule for the 2015 European Youth Olympic Summer Festival is as follows: Partici ...

. А new basketball arena was added to the complex in 2022.

Construction and facilities

Opened on 13 July 2015 by Georgia's

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

Irakli Garibashvili Irakli Garibashvili ( ka, ირაკლი ღარიბაშვილი, also transliterated as Gharibashvili; born 28 June 1982) is a Georgian politician and former business executive who served as the 15th prime minister of Georgia betwe ...

, the complex features two halls that are capable of hosting several sports, such as

handball Handball (also known as team handball, European handball, Olympic handball or indoor handball) is a team sport in which two teams of seven players each (six outcourt players and a goalkeeper) pass a ball using their hands with the aim of thr ...

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Summ ...

judo is an unarmed gendai budō, modern Japanese martial art, combat sport, Olympic sport (since 1964), and the most prominent form of jacket wrestling competed internationally.『日本大百科全書』電子版【柔道】(CD-ROM version of Encyc ...

wrestling Wrestling is a martial art, combat sport, and form of entertainment that involves grappling with an opponent and striving to obtain a position of advantage through different throws or techniques, within a given ruleset. Wrestling involves di ...

futsal Futsal is a variant of association football played between two teams of five players each on a court smaller than a football pitch. Its rules are based on the Laws of the Game (association football), Laws of the Game of association football, and i ...

fencing Fencing is a combat sport that features sword fighting. It consists of three primary disciplines: Foil (fencing), foil, épée, and Sabre (fencing), sabre (also spelled ''saber''), each with its own blade and set of rules. Most competitive fe ...

and other games and tournaments. The seated capacity for the Grand Hall (main arena) is 3,600 for sporting events while the smaller hall can hold 800 spectators. The Olympic Palace also includes a VIP lounge, conference and media rooms, a cafe and car parking area with space for 260 cars. The complex was expanded with a new 10,000-seat indoor basketball arena next to the Olympic Palace and later hosted the Group A matches of

EuroBasket 2022 The EuroBasket 2022 was the 41st edition of the EuroBasket championship organized by FIBA Europe. It was the first since it was agreed it would take place every four years, with a similar system of qualification as for the FIBA Basketball World C ...

. A tunnel connects the two venues of the complex, with the arena expected to be completed by the end of May 2022. Prime Minister Garibashvili visited the new building on 11 June of that year. The palace's arena is built in line with modern standards and equipped with the latest technology. The new Sports Palace hosted the first EuroBasket test match on 4 July.

Events

The venue has hosted the

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

and 2017 Judo Grand Prix Tbilisi. The Group A round of the UEFA Futsal Euro 2018 qualifying competition was held here from 24 to 27 January 2017. The 4th European Kung Fu Championships and the 2017 Men's Youth World Handball Championship from 8–20 August. On 9 August 2017, the Olympic Palace was announced as the new host venue for the

Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2017 The Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2017 was the fifteenth edition of the Junior Eurovision Song Contest, organised by the Georgian Public Broadcaster (GPB) and the European Broadcasting Union (EBU). It took place on 26 November 2017 at the Olympi ...

after the larger capacity Tbilisi Sports Palace was considered unsuitable for hosting the contest. It is expected to host the contest in

2025 So far, the year has seen the continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudanese civil war, and the Gaza war. Internal crises in Bangladesh post-resignation v ...

, again in the Grand Hall (referred to as the small hall by host broadcaster GPB) for a second time.

References

External links

Buildings and structures in Tbilisi Buildings and structures completed in 2015 Basketball venues in Georgia (country) Handball venues in Georgia (country) Indoor arenas in Georgia (country) Sports venues in Tbilisi Sports venues completed in 2015 {{Georgia-sports-venue-stub