Barcelona, Spain
96 336
Camp Nou, sometimes called Nou Camp in English, is a football stadium in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain and the home ground of Football Club Barcelona. It has a capacity of 99,354 seats, reduced to 96,336 seats in matches organized by the UEFA, making it the largest stadium in Europe and the 11th largest in the world in terms of capacity.
The stadium opened its doors for supporters in 1957 and was designed by architects Francesc Mitjans Miro, Lorenzo Garcia Barbon and Josep Soteras Mauri. The reason for designing a new stadium was that the old stadium, Camp de Les Corts, became too small and there was no room for expansion. Camp Nou is currently one of the few European stadiums listed as "Five Star" by UEFA and one of five in Spain.
Over the years Camp Nou stadium has suffered several renovations. The first took place in 1981, which expanded the stadium overlooking the World Cup 1982. The Camp Nou stadium's capacity then stood at 120,000 spectators. The second renovation took place in 1994, to adapt to UEFA regulations which required that all tickets were seated. The capacity stood at the actual 96,336 seats, all seated.
The stadium is of course known as Barcelona's home turf, but also serves by hosting matches from the Catalan National team. Over time the stadium has been used as a host for several big matches, champion's league finals, World cup matches and some of the 1992 Olympic matches.
Apart from football, it also serves for several other sports as: basketball, hockey, handball and futsal. The stadium also has a lot of facilities such as a chapel, mini pitches for training games, memorabilia shop and the well known FC Barcelona museum which receives more than a million visits per year, and thus making it the second most visited museum in Barcelona.
If you are not a big fan of football, you should know that Camp Nou also hosts cultural events like concerts. Michael Jackson, U2, Frank Sinatra, Bruce Springsteen and Pink Floyd are just some of the artists that have performed massive concerts there.
Camp Nou is an emblematic part of Barcelona where you will discover the spirit of Catalonia beside locals. Don't miss it!
