Nelson Mandela Forum
Encyclopedia
Nelson Mandela Forum, formerly Palazzetto dello sport di Firenze and Palasport, is an indoor sports arena, located in Florence
, Italy
inaugurated in 1985. The seating capacity is for 5,253 people and the maximum capacity for rock concerts with general admission tickets is of 8262 people. It was home to Pool Firenze Basket basketball club before the club's relegation to minor leagues in 2009.
The arena hosted the 1990 basketball
European cup winners cup
in which local Italian club Knorr Bologna
won the title, in front of a crowd of 6,000 spectators.
In 2010 the arena was one of the venues of the FIVB men's World Volley Championship
The structure is property of the city of Florence and is managed, since 2003, by the Associazione Palasport – Nelson Mandela Forum under a 12-year management agreement.
The Nelson Mandela Forum has a formal agreement with the Nelson Mandela Foundation that allows the use of the name of the South African former president.
The structure's compound is 25.000 m2 with 10.000 m2 of spaces where there are a main arena, a boxing training center, two areas used for gym (the latter being for many years home of the fencing center of Florence), one free climbing facility, and open spaces occupied by three permanent exhibitions on human rights.
During the summer when the main arena is not utilised, the compound of the Mandela Forum hosts two open-air cinemas with 600 and 250 seats that operate for the whole of the summer holidays season.
At the entrance of the Mandela Forum there is a mural painted by the South African Ndebele
artist Esther Mahalangu inaugurated on the 17 of November 2010 by the Minister of Arts and Culture of the Republic of South Africa Paul Mashatile
.
Florence
Florence is the capital city of the Italian region of Tuscany and of the province of Florence. It is the most populous city in Tuscany, with approximately 370,000 inhabitants, expanding to over 1.5 million in the metropolitan area....
, Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
inaugurated in 1985. The seating capacity is for 5,253 people and the maximum capacity for rock concerts with general admission tickets is of 8262 people. It was home to Pool Firenze Basket basketball club before the club's relegation to minor leagues in 2009.
The arena hosted the 1990 basketball
Basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...
European cup winners cup
Saporta Cup
Saporta Cup was the name of the second-tier level European professional club basketball competition, where the National Cup winners from all over Europe played against each other. The competition was organized by FIBA Europe...
in which local Italian club Knorr Bologna
Virtus Bologna
-Notable players: Marco Bonamico 9 seasons: '75-'76, '77-'78, '80-'86, '88-'89 Carlo Caglieris 6 seasons: '75-'81 Pietro Generali 6 seasons: '75-'76, '78-'83 Gianni Bertolotti 5 seasons: '75-'80 Terry Driscoll 3 seasons: '75-'78 Eric Luc Leclerc 1 season: '75-'76 Luigi Serafini 2 seasons: '75-'77...
won the title, in front of a crowd of 6,000 spectators.
In 2010 the arena was one of the venues of the FIVB men's World Volley Championship
The structure is property of the city of Florence and is managed, since 2003, by the Associazione Palasport – Nelson Mandela Forum under a 12-year management agreement.
The Nelson Mandela Forum has a formal agreement with the Nelson Mandela Foundation that allows the use of the name of the South African former president.
The structure's compound is 25.000 m2 with 10.000 m2 of spaces where there are a main arena, a boxing training center, two areas used for gym (the latter being for many years home of the fencing center of Florence), one free climbing facility, and open spaces occupied by three permanent exhibitions on human rights.
During the summer when the main arena is not utilised, the compound of the Mandela Forum hosts two open-air cinemas with 600 and 250 seats that operate for the whole of the summer holidays season.
At the entrance of the Mandela Forum there is a mural painted by the South African Ndebele
Ndebele
- Ethnic groups :*South Ndebele people, located in the South Africa*Northern Ndebele people, located in Zimbabwe, and Botswana- Languages :*Southern Ndebele language, the language of the South Ndebele...
artist Esther Mahalangu inaugurated on the 17 of November 2010 by the Minister of Arts and Culture of the Republic of South Africa Paul Mashatile
Paul Mashatile
Paul Mashatile is the current Minister of Arts and Culture in the Cabinet of South Africa.He is the former Premier of Gauteng province in South Africa and a member of the African National Congress...
.