The “damari” of Braga

Panathinaikos is thrown tonight (23/08, 22:00) in the battle of his playoffs Champions League, facing Braga in Portugal, in possibly the strangest stadium in the world! The ”Estadio Municipal de Braga”the Municipal Stadium, that is, of the Portuguese city of the same name, located north and an hour away, approximately, from Portois no doubt a very special stadium-jewel, built on a mountainside and has the nickname “Damari” (A Pedreira) -reminding us, of course, of ours in Kaisariani and Kallithea.

His story follows her reform of Braga, which begins 20 years ago, in 2003. In February of that year the businessman Antonio Salvador prevailed in the association’s presidential elections, which gradually changed status, coming out, in fact, in the same season in Europe, only for the 6th time in its history. At the same time, the construction of the new stadium was completed, which opened its doors in December 2003 and became the 7th largest in Portugal (30,286 seats). It was built, as one can understand, for his needs EURO 2004 and due to its peculiar shape, it won various architectural awards. It is designed by the Portuguese architect Souto de Mourawho took over the project in 2000. The stadium was built on the Monte Castro rock in record timefrom 2002 to 2003!

It consists of two platforms, one facing the other, redefining the way, as well as the place of viewing a spectacle. The third side is open with a view towards the city, while the fourth is natural limit, with the rock and the neighboring quarry. Metal ropes cross the field from one platform to the other, enhancing the view, while due to the strong slope of the topography, one span is also the natural continuation of rock and a neighboring quarry. It is worth noting that the cost for the construction of this architectural wonder exceeded 83 million euros, since a huge operation of transporting stones had to be done!

From this wonderful “damari”, therefore, passes the road of Panathinaikos to the “stars”.