Nick Galis Hall
| Palais des Sports | |
 | |
| Location | Thessaloniki, Greece |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 40°37′36.83″N 22°57′25.99″E / 40.6268972°N 22.9572194°ECoordinates: 40°37′36.83″N 22°57′25.99″E / 40.6268972°N 22.9572194°E |
| Owner | Greek Ministry of Culture, General Secretariat of Sports |
| Capacity | Basketball: 5,500[1] |
| Surface | Parquet |
| Construction | |
| Opened | 29 June 1966 |
| Renovated | 2004 |
| Architect | Petros Gianettos, M. Guyon and T. Jeanblock |
| Tenants | |
| Aris Thessaloniki B.C. | |
Alexandreio Melathron (Αλεξάνδρειο Μέλαθρον) with its main hall named Nikos Galis Hall (Σάλα Νίκος Γκάλης) and 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 B.C., member of the Greek League.
Location
The Nikos Galis Hall 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.
Construction
The arena was designed by the architects P. Gianettos, M. Guyon and T. Jeanblock between 1960 and 1962. It was built in 1966. The structure shares two of the architects with the Palais des Sports de Gerland in Lyon and has many similarities.
The building was 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.
History
The arena was 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). Under its former names, the arena 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 B.C. and PAOK B.C. for many years; up until the year 2000, when PAOK B.C. moved into their own new stadium, the P.A.O.K. Sports Arena.
On May 8, 2013, at an event honoring the retired former Aris player, Nikos Galis, the Greek deputy culture minister, Yiannis Ioannidis, announced that the main hall of the arena was to be renamed to "Nikos Galis Hall".[2]
Ownership
The arena is owned and operated by the Greek Ministry of Culture's General Secretariat of Sports.
References
External links
- Official site, now obsolete - Archived on 2011/12/19
- Alexandrio Melathron @ Stadia.gr
- Picture of Alexandrio Melathron
| Preceded by Pavilhão Atlântico Lisbon |
FIBA U-19 World Championship Final Venue 2003 |
Succeeded by SPC Vojvodina Novi Sad |
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