The Nou Camp has been home to FC Barcelona since 1957, when construction was completed on the new stadium. While the land had been specifically purchased for a new stadium to be constructed several years before, building work did not start until 1954 after the decision to go ahead with the project was finally made.
Inaugurated on 24 September 1957 – a public holiday in Barcelona to celebrate La Merce, the city’s patron saint – in front of a crowd of more than 90,000 spectators and with the terraces still incomplete, the stadium was blessed by the Archbishop of Barcelona, followed by an opening ceremony attended by athletes and politicians alike. When the ceremony was over came the real action – Barcelona’s first victory at the Nou Camp with a 4-2 win against a selection from Warsaw, and the first ever goal in the stadium being scored by Eulogio Martinez in the 11th minute.
Enlarged in 1982 for the Spanish World Cup, the Nou Camp is the largest all-seater stadium in Europe as well as being the third largest in the world. With seating for 98,700 spectators, it is more correctly known as Camp Nou, which simply means «new field» in Catalan. Despite the vast number of spectators it can hold, the stadium empties remarkably quickly and official club figures state that it can be evacuated in 5 minutes in an emergency.
At full capacity the stadium can be deafening, which is always the case when FC Barcelona play arch-rivals Real Madrid, but sometimes against lesser teams it can be eerily quiet too. Other domestic rivals include Barcelona’s second football team, Espanyol, Atletico Madrid, Valencia, Mallorca and Zaragoza.
As well as being FC Barcelona’s stadium, the Nou Camp also houses the FC Barcelona museum, the most visited museum in Barcelona. The museum includes a historical archive of photos, documents and trophies as well as an exhibition of works by Catalan artists Dali, Miro and Tapies.
Visitors can also take the stadium tour, which includes a tour of the changing rooms, a walk through the tunnel onto the pitch as well as the substitutes’ bench and many other areas.
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