Barcelona Weekend Break

Barcelona Olympic Stadium

A sight that will be of some interest to anyone with a passion for sport is the Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys (Barcelona Olympic Stadium) which was the location of the 1992 Olympic Games. It is situated on the mountain of Montjuic and can be reached off the Paris Metros lines 1 and 3. There are numerous buses that pass the stadium on route.

This complex was originally built in 1927 for the forthcoming International Exposition of 1929 and was significantly renovated, updated and improved for the Summer Olympics in 1992.

The original design was by Pere Domenechi i Roura and the stadium went on to host a number of notable events, not least the Mediterranean Games and national football cup finals.

By the 1970’s the stadium had however lost not only its appeal, but all of the events that it had previously hosted and it literally fell into abandonment and disrepair.

A new lease of life

When the stadium was determined to be the host building of the forthcoming 1992 Summer Olympic Games a massive renovation project took place and all but the facades of the original structure were rebuilt.

This increased spectator capacity and made the stadium the main site for all of the athletic events and critically and visually the opening and closing ceremonies.

The stadium can now seat up to 54,000 people making it one of the biggest venues of its kind in Europe.

Since the renovations the Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys has been the venue for many event including football matches and most recently the prestigous European Athletics Championships were held there.

There is an Olympic museum just across the road from the Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys stadium.