Strahov Stadium
Encyclopedia
Stadium
A modern stadium is a place or venue for outdoor sports, concerts, or other events and consists of a field or stage either partly or completely surrounded by a structure designed to allow spectators to stand or sit and view the event.)Pausanias noted that for about half a century the only event...
in the Strahov
Strahov (district of Prague)
Strahov is a district of Prague in the Czech Republic. It lies on the west bank of the Vltava, west of Petřín hill, Malá Strana and Hradčany. It is bordered by the districts of Břevnov, Smíchov, Košíře, Střešovice and Malá Strana.-Description:...
district of Prague
Prague
Prague is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. Situated in the north-west of the country on the Vltava river, the city is home to about 1.3 million people, while its metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of over 2.3 million...
, Czech Republic
Czech Republic
The Czech Republic is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Poland to the northeast, Slovakia to the east, Austria to the south, and Germany to the west and northwest....
. The stadium is the largest in the world, and is the second largest sports facility worldwide after the Indianapolis Motor Speedway
Indianapolis Motor Speedway
The Indianapolis Motor Speedway, located in Speedway, Indiana in the United States, is the home of the Indianapolis 500-Mile Race and the Brickyard 400....
, seating around 220,000.
Today, it is no longer in use for sports events; it is a training centre for Sparta Prague, and is used to host pop concerts. The stadium is sited on Petřín
Petrín
Petřín is a hill in the center of Prague, Czech Republic. It rises some 130 m above the left bank of the Vltava River. The hill, almost entirely covered with parks, is a favorite recreational area for the inhabitants of Prague...
hill overlooking the old city. It can be accessed by taking the Petřín funicular
Petrín funicular
The Petřín funicular is a funicular railway in the Czech capital city of Prague. It links the Malá Strana district with the top of Petřín hill. The funicular has three stops: Újezd , Nebozízek and Petřín...
up the hill through the gardens.
Construction
Construction began on a wooden stadium in 1926, which was replaced by concrete grandstands in 1932. Further construction occurred in 1948 and 1975. The playing field, surrounded by seating on all sides, is 63,500 square metres. The stadium currently serves Sparta Prague as a training centre with 8 football pitches (6 pitches of standard sizes and 2 futsalFutsal
Futsal is a variant of association football that is played on a smaller pitch and mainly played indoors. Its name is a portmanteau of the Portuguese futebol de salão and the Spanish fútbol de salón , which can be translated as "hall football" or "indoor football"...
pitches).
History
The original stadium dates from the First RepublicCzechoslovak Republic (1918–1938)
The First Czechoslovak Republic , refers to the first Czechoslovak state that existed from 1918 to 1938. The state was commonly called Czechoslovakia . It was composed of Bohemia, Moravia, Czech Silesia, Slovakia and Subcarpathian Ruthenia...
between the World Wars and served as a venue for Sokol
Sokol
The Sokol movement is a youth sport movement and gymnastics organization first founded in Czech region of Austria-Hungary, Prague, in 1862 by Miroslav Tyrš and Jindřich Fügner...
displays of synchronized gymnastics on a massive scale. It was later used for large displays during the communist era
Czechoslovak Socialist Republic
The Czechoslovak Socialist Republic was the official name of Czechoslovakia from 1960 until end of 1989 , a Soviet satellite state of the Eastern Bloc....
. Performances with several hundred gymnasts making various complex formations and exercising identically while accompanied by tunes from traditional folk music attracted the attention of many visitors. Each time, among the widely popular shows were those of young well-trained recruits who wore only boxer shorts
Boxer shorts
Boxer shorts are a type of undergarment worn by men. The term has been used in English since 1944 for all-around-elastic shorts, so named after the shorts worn by boxers, for whom unhindered leg movement is very important.Reasons for a preference for boxers can be attributed to their variety of...
while on the display or women dancing in miniskirt
Miniskirt
A miniskirt, sometimes hyphenated as mini-skirt, is a skirt with a hemline well above the knees – generally no longer than below the buttocks; and a minidress is a dress with a similar meaning...
s. The groups of gymnasts (unlike the soldiers, who were ordered to practise and participate) were put together from keen local athletic association members who regularly trained for the show throughout the year prior to the event, which repeated every five years. The name of the performance, Spartakiáda, referred to the power and strength of the slave uprising led by Spartacus
Third Servile War
The Third Servile War , also called the Gladiator War and the War of Spartacus by Plutarch, was the last of a series of unrelated and unsuccessful slave rebellions against the Roman Republic, known collectively as the Roman Servile Wars...
.
Motor racing also took place in the stadium in the mid-1960s.
Since 1990, the stadium has been used for concerts.
Concerts
- The Rolling StonesThe Rolling StonesThe Rolling Stones are an English rock band, formed in London in April 1962 by Brian Jones , Ian Stewart , Mick Jagger , and Keith Richards . Bassist Bill Wyman and drummer Charlie Watts completed the early line-up...
- Aug 18, 1990 & Aug 5, 1995 (attendance 100,000 & 127,000 respectively) - Guns N' RosesGuns N' RosesGuns N' Roses is an American hard rock band, formed in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, in 1985. The band has released six studio albums, three EPs, and one live album...
- May 20, 1992 (attendance 100,000 spectators) - Bon JoviBon JoviBon Jovi is an American rock band from Sayreville, New Jersey. Formed in 1983, Bon Jovi consists of lead singer and namesake Jon Bon Jovi , guitarist Richie Sambora, keyboardist David Bryan, drummer Tico Torres, as well as current bassist Hugh McDonald...
- Sept 4, 1993 - AerosmithAerosmithAerosmith is an American rock band, sometimes referred to as "The Bad Boys from Boston" and "America's Greatest Rock and Roll Band". Their style, which is rooted in blues-based hard rock, has come to also incorporate elements of pop, heavy metal, and rhythm and blues, and has inspired many...
- May 27, 1994 - 150 000 + spectators - Pink FloydPink FloydPink Floyd were an English rock band that achieved worldwide success with their progressive and psychedelic rock music. Their work is marked by the use of philosophical lyrics, sonic experimentation, innovative album art, and elaborate live shows. Pink Floyd are one of the most commercially...
- Sept 7, 1994 - (attendance was officially 110,000, but eventually another estimated 10,000 people sneaked in or pushed into the venue) - Bratři Nedvědové - June 21, 1996 (attendance 60,000)
- U2U2U2 are an Irish rock band from Dublin. Formed in 1976, the group consists of Bono , The Edge , Adam Clayton , and Larry Mullen, Jr. . U2's early sound was rooted in post-punk but eventually grew to incorporate influences from many genres of popular music...
- Aug 14, 1997 - (attendance approx. 80,000 - 90,000 spectators, the second largest concert of the tour) - AC/DCAC/DCAC/DC are an Australian rock band, formed in 1973 by brothers Malcolm and Angus Young. Commonly classified as hard rock, they are considered pioneers of heavy metal, though they themselves have always classified their music as simply "rock and roll"...
, with RammsteinRammsteinRammstein is a German Neue Deutsche Härte band from Berlin, formed in 1994. The band consists of members Till Lindemann , Richard Z. Kruspe , Paul H. Landers , Oliver "Ollie" Riedel , Christoph "Doom" Schneider and Christian "Flake" Lorenz...
- June 12, 2001 - (attendance 25,000 people) - OzzfestOzzfestOzzfest is an annual festival tour of the United States featuring performances by many heavy metal and hard rock musical groups. It was founded by Ozzy Osbourne and his wife Sharon Osbourne, both of whom also organize each yearly tour with their son Jack Osbourne...
- May 30, 2002 - (attendance 30,000) Line-up: Škwor, AntiProductAntiProductAntiProduct are a UK-based glam punk band, fronted by Alex Kane, formerly of Clam Abuse, Enuff Z'nuff, Holland, and Life, Sex & Death.The band formed in 2000, and have played alongside acts such as Rachel Stamp, The Wildhearts, Ginger, The Quireboys, Enuff Z'Nuff, Electric Eel Shock, Tyla from...
, AstroMetro, Royal Playboy Cartel, SlayerSlayerSlayer is an American thrash metal band formed in Huntington Park, California, in 1981 by guitarists Jeff Hanneman and Kerry King. Slayer rose to fame with their 1986 release, Reign in Blood, and is credited as one of the "Big Four" thrash metal acts, along with Metallica, Megadeth and...
& Ozzy OsbourneOzzy OsbourneJohn Michael "Ozzy" Osbourne is an English vocalist, whose musical career has spanned over 40 years. Osbourne rose to prominence as lead singer of the pioneering English heavy metal band Black Sabbath, whose radically different, intentionally dark, harder sound helped spawn the heavy metal... - George MichaelGeorge MichaelGeorge Michael is a British musician, singer, songwriter and record producer who rose to fame in the 1980s when he formed the pop duo Wham! with his school friend, Andrew Ridgeley...
- June 2, 2007
Bon Jovi were scheduled to conclude the 1st European leg of their These Days Tour
These Days Tour
These Days Tour 1995, Van Halen opened for Bon Jovi on twenty of the European dates during the second leg promoting their album Balance. On this tour the band played in the DVD Live From London at one of the three Wembley gigs...
at the stadium on July 9, 1995, but the show was cancelled.
Václav Havel
Václav Havel
Václav Havel is a Czech playwright, essayist, poet, dissident and politician. He was the tenth and last President of Czechoslovakia and the first President of the Czech Republic . He has written over twenty plays and numerous non-fiction works, translated internationally...
, former president of Czech Republic
Czech Republic
The Czech Republic is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Poland to the northeast, Slovakia to the east, Austria to the south, and Germany to the west and northwest....
attended both of The Rolling Stones' concerts.
The future of the stadium
In the last decade several studies have looked at adaptive reuseAdaptive reuse
Adaptive reuse refers to the process of reusing an old site or building for a purpose other than which it was built or designed for. Along with brownfield reclamation, adaptive reuse is seen by many as a key factor in land conservation and the reduction of urban sprawl...
and preservation of this unique structure. There are plans to convert the mammoth Strahov stadium complex into a commercial zone complete with hotels, restaurants and shops. Another suggestion is to convert the area into a "leisure mecca for the 21st century". There are also plans to rebuild the area as an Olympic village
Olympic Village
An Olympic Village is an accommodation centre built for an Olympic Games, usually within an Olympic Park or elsewhere in a host city. Olympic Villages are built to house all participating athletes, as well as officials, athletic trainers, and other staff. Since the Munich Massacre at the 1972...
if Prague wins a future Olympic bid; bidding for 2016
Prague 2016 Olympic bid
Prague, the capital city of the Czech Republic, bid for the 2016 Summer Olympics. Prague's bid was considered a trial bid to warm up for future Olympic campaigns. Prague's bid came to an end on June 4, 2008, when it failed to make the Candidate city shortlist....
was unsuccessful.
The stadium was used for the 2010 World Ultimate Club Championships and will be used for an unconfirmed benefit concert in 2011.