| Alexandreio Melathron | |
|---|---|
| Palais des Sports | |
| Location | Thessaloniki, Greece |
| Opened | 1966 |
| Renovated | 2004 |
| Owner | Greek Ministry of Culture, General Secretariat of Sports |
| Surface | Parquet |
| Capacity | Basketball: 5,500[1] |
| Tenants | |
| Aris Thessaloniki B.C. | |
Alexandreio Melathron (Αλεξάνδρειο Μέλαθρον), also called Palais des Sports (Παλαί ντε Σπορ), is an indoor sports arena located in Thessaloniki, Greece, with a capacity of 5,500.[1] The arena hosts the home games of Aris BC, member of the Greek League.
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The Alexandreio indoor arena is situated in the city centre of Thessaloniki, in the city's International trade fare grounds. Bus lines #2, #7, #8, #10, #14, #27, #31, and #58, running along Egnatia avenue stop right in front of the arena.
The arena was built in 1966 and was rapidly redeveloped and updated in 2004 in preparation for the Athens 2004 Olympic Games. The updates involved reconstruction of all the building's external and internal areas. Apart from what is directly visible to everybody, other works included new electromechanical, air-conditioning and audiovisual facilities. New seats, CCTV and new lighting were also installed.
These updates unfortunately resulted in a lower capacity (5,500 compared to the previous 6,000) for "Alexandreio" Arena, which reopened its gates in late 2004.
The arena is named after Alexander the Great, the ancient king of Macedonia. It is also commonly referred to as the "Palais des Sports" (Sports Palace, in French). Alexandreio was the first and biggest indoor basketball arena built in Greece, and remained the biggest until the year 1985, when the Peace and Friendship Stadium in Athens was completed and opened to the public.
Being part of the Thessaloniki International Trade Fair, the arena also serves for many purposes other than sports. It has hosted many international basketball events and was also the home ground for both "arch-rivals", Aris BC and PAOK BC for many years; up until the year 2000, when PAOK BC moved into their own new stadium, the PAOK Sports Arena.
The Alexandreio Indoor Arena is owned and operated by the Greek Ministry of Culture's General Secretariat of Sports.
| Preceded by Pavilhão Atlântico Lisbon |
FIBA U-19 World Championship Final Venue 2003 |
Succeeded by SPC Vojvodina Novi Sad |
